Monthly Musings: Spring Hosting, Decorating, And Gardening

It's hard to believe but it's already the last Thursday of April so it's time for Monthly Musings with Holly who blogs at Pink Lady and Patty who blogs at Good, Better, Best. This month we're talking about spring and spring is my favourite!!!

1) Do you celebrate Easter, Passover, or another holiday in spring?

Well, Dave is Jewish and I am Christian so we celebrate all the holidays. Although this year was a little different. I was sick so missed the Passover seder and we had friends visiting from out of town so didn't really do a lot of Easter celebrating either. But normally we have two seders (one at my in laws and one at home) and we attend all the Easter services -- Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and my favourite one of the whole year, Easter Sunday.

2) Do you plant a garden? Any tips for those without a green thumb?

I don't actually plant a garden but we do have a ton of flowers in our beds. I plant things annually, and spring means it's time for pansies in the window boxes!

If you don't have a green thumb, join a CSA (community shared agriculture) to get fresh veggies or visit a local farmer's market. Also, I find most plants are more forgiving than you might think. If you're interested, try planting something and see what happens. The main thing to check is if a plant needs sun or shade and to water it if it's too dry.

3) How do you decorate for spring?

 My spring decorating has been very minimal in that I change the wreath on our front door. However, Janice just crocheted me a bunny garland that I think I will put up for a few months every spring. I LOVE it!!!

4) Desserts that just say spring to you.

Key Lime Pie. This is a newer spring dessert for us but I love it and the light green colour just says spring to me!

5) Favourite spring flowers?

My absolute favourite spring flower is pulmonaria (lung wort) which are a short little plant. They only grow about 4"-6" high. We have a couple of clumps in our yard and I love them so much! I also really love pansies.

6) Best tips for hosting spring events?

Spring is when we pull out the BBQ and throw together a few different salads. Spring hosting is so fun because we can be outside and it's easy.

7) Favourite beverage or cocktail that makes you think of spring?

I have a few but my favourite is a Coke with lots of ice and a squirt of lime. I drink it outside, sitting at the table, with a bowl of pansies in the background, laundry hanging on the line, and a book in my hand, and I am living my best spring life!!!

8) Vegetable garden, flower garden, both, neither?

I plant tons of annual flowers in pots but no veggies. Like I said above, join a CSA! We also get a ton of fresh veggies when we visit my parents in the summer. They have three vegetable gardens!!!

9) Favourite Easter/Passover candy?

Lately, my favourite Easter candy has been Lindt eggs and for Passover I really like chocolate covered matzoh. Unfortunately, this year, I didn't get either of them :(

10) Marshmallow Peeps? Gross or yes please?

Peeps are an American thing so I've never really had them but I don't like marshmallows so I would guess my answer would be "gross." However, Janice based her crocheted bunnies on the Peeps ones, and I LOVE it, so take that for what it's worth!

I am basically giddy because the gorgeous spring weather has hit here for a few days. I'm looking forward to being done work today, heading home, finishing planting my pansies in the window boxes, and then relaxing in the backyard with a Coke with lime and a good book. Bring on spring!!!

Friday Favourite Moments 2025 #16 (On A Thursday)

Normally I would post this tomorrow but, since it's Good Friday, I want to respect the sanctity of the day so I'm posting my favourite moments from the week, today.

1) Flowers with Janice

I'll write more about this in the next week or two but Janice and I enjoyed a super fun flower experience. It was the most fun Sunday morning with my best friend and enjoying a lot of one of my favourite things -- flowers!!!

 

2) Getting pansies

I've been waiting for weeks for the weather to be nice enough to get pansies and plant them in my window boxes. And FINALLY this week it happened! Whoooo hooo!!! And yes, Rachel talked me into some primroses too :)

 

I'm hoping to be able to plant them outside later today. Hopefully!!!

3) Bunnies from Janice

Look at my bunny garland!!! Janice made these for me and I LOVE them!!! They're so cute and I love the rainbow of colours!!!

 

 

4) Impromptu Starbucks with my co-workers

Yesterday morning was cold and snowy. Yes, again. Brrrr. My principal and I were complaining and wishing we had Starbucks. And then inspiration hit, we called another co-worker over, and randomly placed an order for delivery! It was fun to take a short break from the insanity of the work day and enjoy some hot drinks together -- for about 45 seconds -- and then the phone started ringing :)

5) New solar lights

Ever since my 50th birthday, our back yard tree has had multiple strings of solar lights. A couple of them died over the winter so a few weeks ago, Dave and Rachel bought some more. And this past weekend, Rachel and I finally got them hung. It makes me so happy to see my tree all lit up again!

So those were my favourite moments from this slightly shorter week. I'm about to have the best weekend so I need to get going and prepare for it! See you next week and Happy Easter, if you celebrate.

Share Our Lives: Free Time/Creative Outlets

I'm a day late for the Share Our Lives link up with Sarah, Dara, Joanne, Adrienne, and Jen. (Click on each name to go their blogs.) I really struggled with this prompt because I feel like I don't have any "creative outlets." I guess I don't feel like I'm all that creative. So, with that caveat, here is my attempt at this blog prompt... And no, I didn't read any of the other posts for ideas although that probably would have helped a lot!

1) Blogging

I think blogging is the one thing I do regularly which is creative. I write about our lives, I babble on about other things, and I've been doing this blogging thing now for almost 18 years. The blog has changed over time but it still brings me so much joy. And blogging has brought some incredible friendships into my lives for which I am so very grateful.

 

Me, with Dara and Sarah, two of the hosts of the Share Our Lives blog party!

2) Reading

While it's definitely not a creative outlet, reading is something which takes up a lot of my free time. I even started a Blog Friends Book Club during Covid which is still meeting. We've met over Zoom for almost five years now and will be discussing our 49th book together next week!

 

3) Yard work

I don't know if yard work is a creative outlet or not but it definitely takes up a lot of my free time -- especially in the spring and summer! I love planting different flowers in our yard, and in planters, and maybe that's where the creativity comes in???

 

4) Puzzles

Puzzles are less of a "creative outlet" and more of a "free time" thing but I really do love doing puzzles. We built up a collection over Covid and I really enjoy putting them together.

 

5) Finding unique things for my family to do

 

I don't know if this is a "creative outlet" as I mostly browse Instagram to do this but I really enjoy finding fun, unique, interesting things for my family to do. And if they won't participate with me, I drag my friends to these happenings!

Bubble Planet; an ice cream making workshop; a Taylor Swift escape room

 

6) Watching baseball

 

One of my favourite ways to spend time in spring and summer is watching baseball. I love watching it on TV, attending games in person, going to visit different ballparks, and just all the various experiences which come with baseball and being a Blue Jays fan!

left: celebrating Opening Day 2025 at home; right; attending a night game in person, April 2023

left: we made it to Spring Training, March 2023; right: first in person game post-Covid lockdown, September 2021

left: going to see the Jays play in Pittsburgh; right: meeting Vladimir Guerrero Jr in person at WinterFest, January 2019

attending a Jays post-season game, October 2022

 

7) Vacation planning

 

I don't know if this falls under "free time" or "creative outlet" but I spend a lot of time vacation planning. If we don't have an actual vacation to plan, I'm thinking of new places to go. Again, I don't know if this is exactly a "creative pursuit" but if you need ideas of fun places to visit on a vacation, I will find a ton of ideas for you! Hahaha!!!

left: disc golfing down a mountain in New Hampshire; middle: working lobster boat fishing tour in Maine; right: lunch at a florist/cafe in Fort Lauderdale (all from our 2024 travels)

So that's what I've come up with for this blog post. Do we have any of these in common? Do you want me to find fun things for you to do on a vacation? Need suggestions for a good book to read? Let me know!

Friday Favourite Moments 2025 #15

The days can seem so long and yet, suddenly it's Thursday night and I'm reflecting on my favourite moments from the week. (And since I didn't get this done on Thursday night, I'm finishing it up on Friday morning. Did I mention the weeks go really quickly?!?!?)

1) My mom is home from hospital!!!

This is absolutely my first favourite moment this week. My mom got released from the hospital just two days after surgery and is recuperating at home. We've been checking in with lots of texts and FaceTimes but she's doing so great! We had been told she could be in the hospital anywhere from three to seven days after surgery so we were thrilled she got home so early. And I'm so thankful she's doing so well. Thank you again for all your prayers during this time.

2) An evening with Tim & Janice & BUNNIES!!!

Last Saturday, we had an unexpected evening with Tim & Janice. It was so fun and they introduced us to a new show. And I admired Janice's Easter garland which she is crocheting. I especially love the bunnies and said I wanted a bunny garland! On Monday, Janice texted me pictures of the bunnies she had already crocheted for me!!! They're so cute and I can't wait to have them hanging in my house. I already know they will be my favourite spring/Easter decoration!!!

 

3) First laundry hanging day

 

Well, nice spring weather has been slow in arriving in our area but I finally got to hang the first load of laundry on the line last weekend! I was overjoyed and am so excited one of my favourite seasons is back!!!

4) Waffles at work

 

One of the classes was making waffles earlier this week so I loaned them our waffle iron. In exchange, I got a waffle! Any day that includes a waffle at work is a good one!!!

 

5) Sam's second semi-formal

 

Sam had his second semi-formal dance this past week. He agreed to pose for pictures with me and I'm still not used to him being so tall! He had a great time at the dance with his friends!

6) Flowers for a friend

 

A friend from the neighbourhood, who has a van, offered to drive all the boys to and from the dance. We were so thankful that she was willing to use her larger vehicle to transport all our kids. So yesterday I dropped some thank you flowers off at her house and we had a quick visit. It really takes a village to raise kids and I'm so thankful for mine.

7) ice cream with Rachel and Dave

While Sam was at the dance, Rachel, Dave, and I walked to do some errands and included a stop for ice cream! It may not be nice spring weather around here, but we're going to do some of our favourite spring things anyways!

 

So that was my week of favourite moments. Do you have spring where you are yet? What was your favourite moment from this past week?