Easter

We are family people. Homebodies, if you will. And we live in Memphis while our families live in Georgia and Maryland. {Indeed, we also have relatives in CT, CA, DE, UT, VA, FL, and SC}. But, all told we live quite a distance from any one of our family members.

Alas, we have been blessed. We are fortunate to have dear friends here who welcome us into their homes with open arms. Sunday my kind friend Minx and her husband A. hosted an Easter lunch. She brought out the nice china and fine linens. We are so thankful for our Memphis friends!

The sweet S&P shakers. Don't you love this painting? Minx created it herself! The cordial hostess hard at work. Yum! Chicken & rice, salad, asparagus, lima beans, rolls, and sangria. Oh my word, let me tell you about the sangria... I found a recipe for a white sangria on Allrecipes.com that received rave reviews. In order to control the sweetness of the drink, I tweaked the recipe a bit by halving the ginger ale, using a mix of white and sparkling blush wine, increasing the variety of fruit, and doubling the liquor. It was delicious!

Have I mentioned.....

...Lily's current situation?

It's quite pitiful. She had some minor surgery on her ear. As a result, she was prescribed 12 days of the E-collar and bandage. It's torture. She also has to be sedated all of the time. Even with the sedatives, we've had to make four unscheduled trips to the veterinarian due to her successful determination to remove the bandage. Lily has rubbed, brushed, pushed, and drug her head against ever surface, mobile and immobile, in and around our house in order to loosen her head wrap. She's crafty.

Improvements

Remember our crazy overgrown front landscaping? Well, improvements have been made. With any luck, in a few weeks our front lawn will be a deep shade of fescue green.

ThenNow Then Now

Removed: 1 dead compact holly, 2 Japanese dwarf cedars, 3 nandina bushes, 2 un-identified bushes
Added: 2 bags top soil, 5 bags black mulch, 2 hanging ferns, 4 hostas, 6 begonias, 1 compact holly, 2 hydrangea bushes, 1 azalea bush, 1 gardenia bush, 2 double impatiens, and a fushia.
Time: 4.5 hours
Cost: $197