Easter Recap

I hope your Easter celebration was merry, filled with happy moments and good food.

I thought for today’s post I would share how I prepared for my family’s Easter. I find that with each passing year I am more and more inclined to include hand-made gifts and decorations in our holiday celebrations. There are so many inspiring ideas out there, so many great tutorials that I have to at least try.

I wanted to do something special for everyone coming over. Last year I had baked sugar cookies and gave everyone their own tin, so this year, when I saw this idea, I knew it was the perfect thing. I mean a pie baked in a jar? How perfectly cute is that? As I am a collector at heart I had enough jars gathered to bake a pie for everyone. The pies were super-easy to prepare and if I do say so myself delicious! I think everyone who sampled it agrees.

For the wrapping I followed a tutorial found on Creature Comforts (a great resource), that shows you how to make your own greeting cards with wasi tape, but I made tags instead of cards. I loved how they came out, and it’s such a great idea that I think I may just make my own Christmas cards too (it’s all about planning ahead, right?).

As for the Easter eggs, I had promised myself I was going to use natural dyes, first because I am trying to make our household as “green” as possible, and second it was Earth day after all. I followed this tutorial and the results were great.

I am constantly wishing for more time, and if next year I have it, I want to try the egg-o-gram, it’s adorable!

That’s it for me, on to more knitting!

My first give-away!

Sorry for the late post, work got in the way....I drew names out of a hat, and Siga, you are the winner. Email me your address when you get a chance, so that I can wrap him up and send him on his way.

I cannot believe that it’s already (only) been 5 months since I started blogging. I’ve had a blast so far! I enjoy planning my posts, obsessing over and taking the photos, researching ideas. And the response has been amazing. I love checking my blogger statistics and seeing all the names of the countries where my “fans” reside. And I am really grateful for all your wonderful comments!

To show my appreciation, I have decided to host my first give-away!

If you’ve glanced at my Etsy shop, you’ve probably seen this cute little fella. Well he has a twin who is looking for a loving home, he is today’s prize.

To enter the draw, please sign up as a follower to my blog and leave a comment under this post before Monday night, the 25^th April. I will announce the winner on Tuesday at the top of this post! Enjoy!

There must be something in the air, because Tanis from Tanis Fiber Arts is also doing a give-away. She has the most incredible yarn, which wheather I win or not, I will be knitting with at some point and will tell you all about it!

Easter Traditions

I have very fond memories of Easter. I remember my family’s preparations, starting with the big spring cleaning, the decorating, the cooking. My grandma always filled the house with flowers from the garden, forsythia, daffodils and tulips. I loved the colors, and to this day these flowers bring a smile to my face.

For us kids, Easter was always exciting because we were allowed to stay up late and go to midnight mass. I remember dressing up, walking to church, joined by hundreds of people. Because the crowds were so large, mass was oftentimes held on the church steps so that everyone would see and hear. The sense of peace and community, it was almost palpable.

At the end of mass, the priest “gives light”, meaning he lights someone’s candle (everyone brings one), and this person lights someone else’s and so forth, until everyone’s candle is burning. You take the candle home, as it is supposed to light your way for the coming year. You have to imagine a sea of people with burning candles slowly and silently making their way home. It’s a magical sight.

And on Sunday you feast.

Of course the other important Easter tradition was the painting of the Easter eggs. I loved it, what kid does not? When I moved to Canada one of my most cherished mementos I took with me was this hand-painted Easter egg. There are very talented artisans in Romania that specialize in this type of “painting”.

Beautiful, isn’t it?

 I am preparing for A.’s first Easter-egg coloring experience. I’ve done my research on using natural dyes, and I promised him he can use Spider-man stickers to decorate….not exactly traditional but hey, it makes him happy. As I am not much of a painter, I knitted my own Easter eggs (you may have seen them in my Etsy shop). I think they will make a beautiful centerpiece, and when A. is older, we can even use them for an Easter egg hunt.

Crash Boom Bang

Just a little note to say, that yes, I am still around and wanting to blog, but my computer has crashed, and we are desperately trying to revive it again. Might be a few days...

It's odd, I feel so cut off from the world not being able to access the internet. Am I addicted?

Spring Inspiration

It’s finally happening. The temperatures are rising, the sun feels warm, and on our walk this weekend we saw crocuses and snowdrops. I bought a pink hyacinth for the kitchen windowsill and it smells incredible!

No knitting updates for today, but I can tell you that April will be an Easter-themed month, and I am even planning my first give-away!

Flowerpots need sleeves too

So I don't have any words of wisdom, no particular insights, no funny story for you today. I'm still waiting for spring but it seems I still have a long wait ahead.

I am planning to plant some flowers on our patio, to buy a new umbrella and coloeful pillows. I have this image of warm and sunny afternoons spent there, enjoying a glass of lemonade, my needles clicking away. That's not too much to ask, is it?

In the meantime, inspired yet again by Debbie Bliss' "The Knitter's Year", I made these three flowerpot sleeves. They just looked cute

Trying to phtograph this FO, I was wrapped in my parka, with my gloves and hat on, hoping the set-up would not get blown away by the -20C wind.

So really, under these weather-conditions, flowerpots DO need sleeves!

Cabane à Sucre

The days are finally getting a little warmer, so we were looking for a fun family activity. March and April are traditionally sugaring off season around here, so a plan was hatched. There are numerous sugar shacks in the Montreal region, pretty much something for everyone’s taste.

We chose the “Sucrerie de la Montagne”, as it was warmly recommended by friends. A little research revealed that it is designated a Quebec Heritage Site, so it was certainly going to be an authentic experience.  It’s about an hours’ drive from our house, and we passed the time listening to a medley of A’s favorite songs , such as “Whoomp there it is”, “I’m too sexy”, “Jump” (Kriss Korss), “Paparazzi”, and the Barenaked Ladies’ “Snacktime”.

As soon as we left the city I felt this sense of calm descend over me. I’m always surprised to see how caught up we get in the stress of everyday life. Try as we might, it always gets a hold of us. This is why outings are so important to us.

We arrived early, so we took a walk around the 120 acre forest of century old maples,  before it got too busy. It’s all old log cabins, some of which can be rented for overnight stays. They have their own bakery, where they make bread and sugar pies, and of course a distillery to transform sap and maple water into delicious maple syrup.

Brunch was served in a room warmed by a crackling fire, on long picnic tables. The waitresses wore traditional garb and we were entertained by two musicians singing French chansons. It really seems they are living life as they did years ago.

We feasted on pea soup, tourtiere (which is meat-pie, a local specialty), sausages and maple smoked ham, a delicious egg soufflé, mashed potatoes and meatballs. And as if that was not enough, we finished the meal with pancakes drenches in maple syrup and the most delicious sugar pie.  I personally enjoyed the tourtiere best, A was a big fan of the ham and S though the eggs were *eggstraordinary* ( ;-)sorry, I could not resist).

The drive home left us content and lethargic, ready to nap on the couch with the sun streaming in the windows dreaming of a spring that is…oh, so close!