Summer in April

 Spring has truly arrived.

The snow has melted,

the swans have been released and have begun nesting,

Easter came with meaningful gatherings,

the butter lamb made it to the table,

today we went from early Spring to mid Summer,

windows open,

sun umbrella is up,

garden Spring bulbs are popping!

And the Lenten Rose is abloom ...

I love it so much but am aware that cooler temps and rains are still to come.

For the weekend, tho, summer was here!

Record setting temperatures soared,

and 4 special friends came through my door.

We yoga-ed, shopped, ate amazing food, hot-tubbed,

and had many laughs, tears, and heart-to-hearts.

Then ... we had the privilege to see a live performance at the Festival Theatre.

RENT - wow!

"Five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes

How do you measure the life ...

... Let's celebrate

Remember a year in the life of friends"

                                            Season's of Love by J.D. Larson

Thank you Karen, Yvonne, Sandi, and Karen 

How did I ever deserve to have such wonderful supportive friends?

I will draw strength from the warmth of this special weekend.

Lemon Loaf was my small contribution to the breakfast table.

Here is the recipe ...

It's one of those tried and true ones - probably from the 1970s...

EVELYN'S LEMON LOAF

(my sister's recipes are the best)

4 eggs well beaten

1 pkg. lemon cake mix

1 pkg. lemon instant pudding

2/3 Cup Oil

2/3 Cup Water

Glaze:

1/4 Cup Lemon Juice

3/4 Cup Icing Sugar

Whisk the cake mix and pudding together.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, add the oil and water and mix that into the dry ingredients.

Mix well - 5 minutes till smooth and shiny.

Divide batter into 2 parchment lined loaf pans and bake for 45-50 minutes at 350F

Rest baked loaves in pans for 5 minutes, then poke holes into the loaves with a chopstick

or knitting needle. Pour the glaze over warm loaves and then cool for 

20 minutes before removing from pans.

Enjoy!

I forgot to mention, probably because no photos were taken,

that 3 or our "only" daughters crashed our little party on Friday evening.

What a nice surprise ... so great to see them all again and for them to see each other as well.

Easter Sunday afternoon - Lego time!

Till next time ... treasuring my friends and family.  Happy Springtime (or is it summer) to all!