Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Easter weekend.

With an unexpected Friday free, we decided to use the excuse to step out in the shoes we bought in Italy and go downtown for an Irish whiskey on a rooftop bar.
The weather was perfect all weekend long, and we stayed until it was starting to grow dark, and then had a glass of wine and some pita bread with crawdad dip at an outdoor cafe on the square.
We had he younger daughter only for the day on Saturday, so we went to the Botanical Gardens for the annual Earthfest. I used to take my kids to it when it was held at the World's Fair Park, including one memorable day when my younger son, then 9, took a Segway for a wild spin that had the Segway rep yelling and waving his arms as he chased him down. I still laugh when I think about that.
No Segways on loan today, but we did stop at some of the booths, including one that had monarch butterflies. We got to feel how their little hooked feet grasp your skin when they walk on it.
And the monarch caterpillars, who leave a little trail of silk on your hand. I was happy to be able to say that I already had all the monarch-friendly plants they were offering in my bee/butterfly gardens.
There was a free kid's environmental craft section and the younger daughter made paper from scraps, tie-dyed a handkerchief with water run-off from a bituminous coal mine, and dug in the compost to uncover red wriggler worms in a vermiculture set-up. Our favorite was the applesauce and taffy samples from an Appalachian exhibit.
We had a picnic under a shaded pavilion and watched the crowds The poor guy in the plastic bag tree looked miserably hot. Given the choice, I'd have gone with the ridiculous mushroom costume.
After lunch we sat and listened to this guitar and banjo duo for a while.
Then a quick look at the peonies in their gardens before heading home for ice cream in our own backyard.
After we'd taken the daughter back to her mother's house, we grilled swordfish steaks in tarrgon butter and yellow squash and zucchini in balsamic vinegar and had that with salads and white wine on the back deck. I didn't want to ever go inside.
Easter morning we had a small brunch on the sunporch before my husband headed off the work. And me? Well, I headed out to the yard to get my hands in the dirt again, of course.

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