Easter Decorating

 After a long winter it seems particularly thrilling to bring some colour into the house by way of greenery, flowers and Easter pastels.

I found the giant blue hydrangea at the warehouse store and I could barely carry it in the house it's so heavy.  Everything else came from Sweet Violets, my favourite flower store in Guelph.

Foyer Flowers

Kitchen

 It's safe to say that I'm obsessed with adding a very pale blue colour to my house right now.  It sets off the wood tones and dark neutrals that we've layered the rooms with.  Contrast is everything.

Good Friday Dinner

 For dinner last evening I made a very simple potato salad with a shallot vinaigrette (with lots of lemon), chopped fennel and radish.  I topped it all with dill and some optional smoked salmon.  We started with a leek and cauliflower soup topped with sautéed shallots.
It was exactly the sort of dinner I like to throw together these days, composed of dishes I can prepare ahead of time.

 We have a large collection of these cute wool creatures that I collected over many years for the Rascals.  I guess it's me that plays with them now... I like to set them up for holidays on the kitchen shelf.

Dark turquoise candles in the dining room.

 I was never one to think of lighting candles during daylight hours, how does that make any sense at all?  MrBP finds it enchanting however and I've realized he's right, there's something so festive about it.

Pale blue tapers, tall ones!

I love these pale blue taper candles, they are very tall at eighteen inches.  Again that pale blue colour, here juxtaposed to red in the painting, a favourite colour combination of mine.

I hope you have a really wonderful Easter weekend.  We'll be celebrating on Sunday with The Rascals and Poppa.  It's meant to rain all weekend so I'll definitely be lighting lots of candles.
May the sun (or candlelight) shine on you!

xoxDani

Mop Philosophy Monday

 We had a house full of our Rascals this weekend and it was the best.  I like to place some flowers in the Rascal bedrooms when they travel home from Toronto, I picked these ones up at the grocery store.
I added a little bowl of green apples too... always trying to get fruit and veg into those kids, it doesn't matter how old they get.

We went for a hike on Saturday and the weather was fine, cold and clear.
We've been hiking this area with the Rascals since they were really small and it brings back lots of memories.
Now that they both live in a concrete jungle they really appreciate visiting the woods when they're home.

Scout, Ole Rascal, Middle Rascal
On the trail

 The trails were so muddy that Scout had a perfect coat of mud covering her underside by the time we left for home:

You can bet there was a bath in Scout's future!

Did you cook any Easter meals?  Our plans completely changed this weekend after Poppa suffered a fall on Friday.  We didn't want him making the journey by car to our house for the Easter lunch so we made reservations at an Italian restaurant instead.
(Don't worry, he's fine.  He needed a few stitches but otherwise it wasn't serious: thank goodness.)

There's something to be said for going out on a holiday: no dishes!

I have a day of admin and cleaning.  Somehow the mud from the hike made its way into various corners of our house so a floor scrubbing is in order, as well as the usual Monday Reorganizing.
Hope your day gets off to a productive and cheery start.
xoxDani