At the time of writing this the house is officially trashed. Yep, we lived hard in the house this Easter, cooking and eating and hanging out faster than any of us could have cleared it up. The dishwasher was on constantly and our thigh muscles are all much more developed from all the bending down and picking up off the floor than they were before Good Friday rolled around but we lost the battle when it came to the clear up.

And so what!

Robert the Husband & I got to hang out for a bit on our own at first starting with finding an AWESOME Thai restaurant housed in a country pub about twenty minutes from here. It was so good I’m still thinking about the meal I had. We also caught a movie and went down to Brighton for waffles by the sea.

As I’ve mentioned before Robert is experimenting with some bread recipes that he’s going to be sharing on this website (Yay!) next month and this weekend he worked on his Focaccia. We ate like kings on Sunday evening and enjoyed the fruits of his efforts. I’m looking forward to this bread series as I think it will be super handy if you want to give bread making a go.

And then yesterday we were all together for the first Easter Egg hunt that my sister’s twins have been able to partake in. Robert and I went out early and hung bunting from the trees. It was and still is CHILLY out there but at least it wasn’t raining and I still find it hard to believe that by the time this month is out the whole garden will be alive again. Just four short weeks.

When we had finished hanging the bunting Jodie went out and hid the eggs and chocolates for the girls and then they were set loose. It was great seeing them spot the brightly coloured wrappers in amongst the daffodils.

Each time they found a new treat they held it aloft before putting it in their wee pink buckets.

Crouching down for treasure…..

…and excitedly showing it off.

Before long their buckets were getting full and luckily, or there would have been trouble, each of the girls managed to find equal amounts of treats. PHEW!!!

With them being only two years four months old, when their Mummy shouted “Shall we do it all again?” they were more than happy to oblige. It won’t be long before the contents of the bucket are worth far more than than the hunt for them but until then Jodie was more than happy to empty out the buckets and hide the eggs in different places for a second time.

Eventually however, it was time to head back indoors for lunch. The little girls with their little pink buckets. Their first Easter Egg hunt behind them.

It was all go in the kitchen as we got lunch ready. I’ve found since getting bigger during my pregnancy that I have to use my energy wisely. This means that I make an awful mess when I’m preparing a meal as I don’t clear up as I go. I justify that by figuring that folk would much rather eat than wait for me to clear up and the clearing can always be done later. Sometimes a great deal later but at least we’ve all eaten. Although I should add that Robert has officially been declared ‘Dishwasher Stacker’ of the year by me as that seems to be the appliance I’ll find him by the most. Thank you, love!

I made two different Jamie Oliver salads this Easter, both of which are delish. His recipes never fail me and working your way through any one of his books will make you a better cook. Fact!

Truly came to help me as I set the table, again, for another feast and we chatted in a way that you can only manage if one of the contributors are a little over two years old. I could sit there all day and chat with her. She makes sense. Uncomplicated sense. I like that.

And so we all had lunch, with the girls sitting on big chairs like grown ups and the rest of us in our highchairs….

Afterwards we ate some of the eggs that had been collected and sat down to catch a bit of Chitty Bang Bang. Is that film not interminably long? Goodness gracious, how we ever made it through it all as children I’ll never know!!! I get bored after Toot Sweets nowadays and if it didn’t take me ten minutes to heave myself out of my chair I would have gone off and done something far more interesting.

Eventually it was time  for everyone to go back to their own homes and everybody left us. Robert and I had another tiny clear up before settling down with a glass of wine (Robert) a bottle of Gaviscon (me) and the final of University Challenge.

And of course the memories of the girl’s first real Easter Egg hunt. By this time next year they’ll have to race more than each other to find the eggs as my two will be here by then.

Here’s hoping they like chocolate!

Speaking of chocolate…

Here is this month’s screensaver calendar.

As you can see it depicts chocolate and fabric. So many of you gave up chocolate for Lent that we thought we’d reward your efforts by dedicating the whole of next week to the good stuff. We have four classic chocolate recipes coming your way and I know you’ll love them. The fabric you see represents all of the brand new craft projects for the home and for you that we are working on here at Cherry Menlove. We’re making so many beautiful things at the moment that the thought of dedicating a whole month to fabrics seems right and proper.

Here is the .jpeg version of the calendar for you to save as your screensaver

Here is the .png version of the calendar for you to save as your screensaver

But for now I’m off to finish the Easter clear up and enjoy the spoils of the garden in April. There is SO MUCH coming up!!!!

Lots of love,

Cherry xoxo

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