OOh, long time no see!

 The dogwood trees are in bloom, except for mine. It's a hybrid of some kind and we put it in last year and so far no blooms. I can't wait to see what it'll look like once it does have some, in who knows how many years. It's kind of sad looking now. This lovely bloom is on the tree in N & J's front yard.

 We're so happy spring is here. I love all the little flowers that are popping up.

 What are these? Are they primrose? They're in my back garden but I have no idea what they are. I do like them, however.

 Passover was a busy week for us. M arrived from the north and C and L arrived from the west.

 We had a terrific time, with lots of cooking and eating involved. We even "invented" a dessert using chocolate covered matzah. We came up with Matzahmisu, get it? Like Tiramisu! The recipe is HERE on my recipe blog.

We were so sad when everyone left to return home. It was such fun!

 The annual Monument Avenue Easter Parade was perfect this year. The weather was sunny but not too hot. People dressed up or not, and strolled up one side and down the other of Monument Avenue. I caught this mother-daughter duo from behind. They were so colorful and the little girl was so cute with her very tall Easter chapeau.

There were food and beverage tents, crafts, and hats for sale, and games for the kids.

 At each end of the parade there was live music.

The crowd was estimated at 25,000 people!  And it felt like that at times.

Dogs, rabbits, and even a pig, wore bonnets. Not sure any of them like it, but it was cute to see. There was a person dressed as a bunny giving out candy and posing for photos. It was a happy looking bunny so the children weren't freaked out.

Someone set up this darling bunny tea party on their tiny front lawn.
Across the street, a couple of children set up a lemonade and cupcake stand and were doing a brisk business.

A lovely start to spring. Yay!

Update, finally

 I'm back to make Mail Art using old French receipts and old maps of Paris. This doesn't show up so well because of the white background, oops! I'm up to #900 in my production since Dec. 2010. I'll keep going to 1000, then maybe I'll start over at #1.

 Here is that gorgeous view from the deck at VMFA. This is actually 2 trees but they make such a beautiful shape together, don't they. We've been so fortunate to have many days already when we can sit outdoors.

 My neighbor, Kris, loves purple, and plants purple flowers for all of us to enjoy.

 Look, I got an Easter greeting in Greek! I love those eggs, don't you. Such beautiful color and design. Happy belated Easter, happy current Passover, and happy Eastern Orthodox Easter coming up, to all who have or are or will be celebrating. Whew!

Here's  snippet from a piece of Mail Art that I sent out recently. It's representing the fact that I'm still doing my daily piano practice. I can feel my fingers getting stronger as the days go by. What will I do while I'm not near a piano? When I'm on a trip? Any ideas for me?

Mail Art for Passover, today #139 series.

 Happy Passover to those who observe it, Happy Easter to those who observe it, and happy spring for all of us.

Easter Sunday

Last Sunday, we went to our Easter Parade on Monument Avenue. It's an annual promenade. There were people and animals with fancy hats, entertainment, and food. All people do is walk down one side of the street and up the other side for several blocks. It was extremely HOT this year and crowded.

We especially loved the men in their fabulous hats. Also, the irony of the band of black musicians played on the green area beneath the Robert E. Lee statue (American Civil War, southern general, for those of you who are in other countries.)
After dinner, the weather became cooler and someone suggested that we go play miniature gold, so we did. It was so much fun. We laughed, hooted and hollered, encouraged each other, took pictures, and had a terrific time. I came in last, oh well. Can't wait to do this again.