Monday, 13 April 2020

A Quiet Easter Sunday

So much of our Easter Sunday passed as it always does but so much of it was different too.  

A soft felted bunny in a basket.

Tiny sweet eggs and a chocolatey bunny or two nestled themselves into little handmade baskets that I put out, along with our other Easter treasures, atop our old wooden table. This is where our sleepy-eyed son always finds his bounty upon waking and remembering it's Easter Sunday. 

A little woven basket filled with spotty eggs.

After coming in from the garden, where we spent time watering and weeding while our teenage son slumbered on (as they do), we three had breakfast together out on our verandah. Leftovers on toast in the warm sunshine! In other years, our verandah would have seen us sitting and sharing a lovely Easter lunch with my husband's family but this year it's not to be. 

A tiny rabbit on a tiny plate.
Instead, for the Grandma who lives close by, we nestled another chocolate bunny, a handmade washcloth and some soap into a little basket and drove to leave it outside her door. We wished her a Happy Easter from a socially-distant afar which is all we can do right now. For the Grandma and Poppy who live so far away, on a peaceful pocket of land in the far north, we set up a Skype session and were able to see them and talk with them from this distance we all now have to endure. While Skype can't replace the hugs I so wish I could give them, it was something in these surreal times.

A drawstring bag for gathering.

We three had our hot cross buns for morning tea (I did indeed make another batch on Saturday) and a simple lunch of toasted sandwiches which were warm and cheesy and just right for this year's Easter. The afternoon saw each of us absorbed in our own pursuits. While my others completed a jigsaw puzzle, read books, rode bikes and kicked footballs, I gladly curled up and watched Gardening Australia's Easter Special on ABC iview, walked Sir Steve dog and did some more sewing with lovely vintage linens. Perhaps the little drawstring bags I made could hold some of next Easter's eggs.

Three little Easter Bunnies.

In the evening, we shared a meal up at our old wooden table, with its display of little Easter bunnies and baskets beside us. Somehow those little baskets weren't holding quite as many chocolatey eggs as they had been in the morning. Hmmm... I'm pretty sure Sir Steve dog didn't steal any for he knows chocolate is not for dogs! 

This year, it was just the three of us but next year I hope wider family will gather here and we'll be truly together again. How are you spending your Easter time?

Meg







21 comments:

  1. It's funny because on Saturday I thought it was Sunday and then the kids completely forgot it was Easter morning yesterday...with no family get togethers it was just another day however they were happy it was chocolates yesterday. We took everything off our outdoor area and my daughter high pressure hosed the pavers and then we cleaned the BBQ and Pizza Oven and table and chairs and put it all back together....it was a nice sunny day for it. Have a good week. The little bag looks beautiful. Kathy

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    1. I'm glad you like the little bag, Kathy. The old linen is just so soft and pretty. They are such a quick project to sew and I am finding that somehow very satisfying right now. I have two more to sew up today from the same fabric but the flowers are stitched in different colours.

      Your outdoor area sounds a lovely space to be in with BBQ and pizza oven. We've been cleaning here today, we emptied out our ensuite, decluttered and washed down all the walls. We'll tackle another room next weekend. MegXX

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  2. Hello Meg,

    Wishing you and your family a happy Easter.

    From Cheryl

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    1. Hello, dear Cheryl! How are things down your way? I think of you from time to time and wonder how it is in your Northern Rivers home. How is your orchard growing? I hope you've had a happy Easter time at home with your family. XxMeg

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  3. Such beautiful photos, Meg. You are an amazing lady. I did a lot of weeding in the garden. Everything looks incredible right now. It's exciting.

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    1. It is an exciting time in the garden, Stephanie. Your Spring and our Autumn seem to be perfect for gardening. The seedlings in the veg patch here are doing well and a little baby pumpkin is growing bigger on our vine. I check it each day! Thank you always for your kind and encouraging words. I think you are amazing too with all you achieve in your little cottage and cabin. MegXx

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  4. It was another Sunday for me - I was busy making tests.

    I love your little bunnies and the bunny plate.
    Happy Easter to you and your family, Meg. 😊

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    1. I hope you got all your marking done, Nil, leaving you some time to enjoy other things around your home and garden. I do not miss marking work! I love our little bunnies which I collected when my son was small and the bunny plate was from a very dear friend. I hope you too have had a happy Easter time at home. MegXx

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  5. I love your felted bunnies and basket, they are so sweet and perfect for a lovely simple Easter this year. I do hope we all have a different Easter next year, with family or friends, but my wish is that we will not return to our old way of life of greed and wastefulness. Stay safe, stay well.

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    1. I hope this time leads to change too, Rosie. While it's a difficult time and there are hardships for many people, I find positives in the way many people are spending more time at home and with their families, working from home, sowing seeds and planting veg and caring for one another in whatever way they can.

      When I was talking with my Mum via Skype yesterday, she told me how one of her neighbours had strung Easter eggs up in one of their front garden trees early on Sunday morning. They woke to find an Easter Bunny really had been to visit. Such kindness is a wonderful thing.

      Take care, Rosie.
      MegXx

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  6. I love all the little bunnies but the pretty drawstring bag has set my brain ticking. I think it would be nice to make a few. When this awful virus has gone away I could use them when buying fresh produce. I wouldn't need individual plastic bags for each item of veg. I love a sewing project that has a purpose. Happy Easter Meg, please take care and stay safe.

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    1. The drawstring bags are so easy to sew, Cherie. While they are not lined, they do have french seam which makes the inside of the bag neat and tidy and the seam less likely to fray. I am making them from vintage linens with unfinished stitching, small holes or a marked in some way. These bags make use of the linen that is still able to be salvaged.

      Happy Easter to you too, Cherie. Stay safe and well. MegXx

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  7. Love all your handmade Easter crafts - the little bag is beautiful and seeing the little tag beside it has remindd me I have some Das clay to use - I can add that to my list of things to do and make.
    Hope you have more lovely days over this Easter period. x

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    1. Oh, you can do wonderful things with air-drying clay! I love to roll it out and press flower heads and leaves into it to make beautiful prints. I will have to see if I have any clay here to play with now as you've got me thinking now too...MegXx

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  8. Oh I love your sweet little rabbits! Our Easter was much smaller this year too but we 'Zoomed' with all the children and I determinedly enjoyed it all regardless!
    I have LOTS of lovely old embroideries that I've bought for creating little pouches similar to yours but I just cant bear to cut them up! Its silly really because at least they'd be used instead of packed away in suitcases! Yours are beautiful!

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    1. I don't think it's silly at all, Evi, to not want to cut up your embroideries. So much time and work has gone into all those tiny stitches. It took me a long time to decide how to use the vintage linens I was gifted because I wanted to make things that salvaged as much of the fabric as was possible, that highlighted the beautiful embroidery and that would mean repurposing in a way that created something that would see that time and work become useful and cherished again.

      I have now made many little drawstring bags, each is my favourite, and I hope that once I gift them to others that they will be used over and again to hold treasures or be passed on in turn holding gifts. I have also saved little off cuts, leftover after cutting out the templates for the bags, and I will make tiny hand stitched brooches with these.

      I am thankful too, that in these days of social distancing, we have technology, like Zoom and Skype, that keep us connected to our loved ones. Glad you enjoyed your Easter time, Evi.

      MegXx

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  9. So much loveliness in this post! Your wee felted rabbit is gorgeous and I love the bag you have made from the embroidered linen, it is absolutely beautiful. I am glad that you found a way to celebrate Easter with your family even though it wasn't quite what you would have wanted it to be.

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    1. Thank you! I am really pleased with all the little drawstring bags I have been making from the linens I was gifted. These ones, with creamy old linen and delicate flowers, are quite lovely.

      It was a different Easter but I am glad that technology enabled us to connect with our wider family. It's a blessing in these very different times! MegXx

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  10. For some reason, Easter has always been spent just with our 4-member family. So it wasn't too odd. Christmas is usually the bigger gathering event. Glad you were able to touch base with your respective relatives though. All your little Easter bunnies, look so different, but adorable too. :)

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    1. I always miss my family up north but am feeling it more acutely at the moment. I think just how extra-special Christmas will be this year if we do get to spend it with our wider families and friends. MegXx

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  11. Very pretty decorations! Sounds like you had a delightful day! Andrea

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