The Favorite Holiday

One more shot of my new favorite hankie,
already on the clothesline!
First day of hanging out the laundry!

A couple of years ago, Jonas told me (in utter disappointment on the actual day) that Easter was his most favorite holiday, and why had we not planned a party?!
Too late that year, but this year, Mama is on top of it. I think it's the excess that he appreciates, and thanks to Jenny, who has personally stuffed 72 eggs with a combination of candy, coins, and Easter jokes, I think he'll be all set. We will be having some brunch with a couple of families here at our house, and hopefully, an outdoor egg-hunt. One of our favorite 2 year-olds will be here, in some sort of festive adorableness, and my biggest fear is (not the testosterone-plagued 6-7 year-olds on SUGAR but) that Miss Z. will trip and come in personal contact with chicken poop.
This is always my biggest fear about anyone who comes to our house.

Tiny felted eggs in a hand-made basket by Ravenhill's Mom.

Above is the little package that I sent off to Miesmama for the Swap--CHOO; I am showing it to you because she told me it has arrived. Here's what she sent me. I chose the poem Litany by Billy Collins, one of my favorites. There was an ATC in there too, but it's hiding.
And finally, these amazing cookies from the latest issue of Cooks Illustrated, which really ARE worth the 400 times they spent trying to perfect the idea of chocolate chip cookie. The key: browned butter. Since receiving the new issue, I have already made these lovelies twice. Perfectly decadent, with that lovely toffee flavor of browned butter. And as Hannah says, why don't we use browned butter in everything, it is just SO great. I did make them smaller than Cooks told me to, because dang, they wanted them HUGE and they are just too rich for that size. I laughed out loud when I saw that Annie made these recently also and was raving about them on her blog!

The Hankies are Flying!

Guess what I got in the mail from Miesmama yesterday?
My Spring Hankie and other goodies from the Swap---CHOO! Big thanks, Miesmama! Don't you love that Kaffe Fassett in pink and orange? How did she know I have a crush on Kaffe?! AND his fabric?!!!
A poem on a hand-made card, in honor of National Poetry Month:

I think Miesmama could be ready for ATCs, don't you? I am seeing some real talent for visual combination here.

Don't you love to see handwriting?

What an incredible way to make "F" Miesmama has!

And a lovely handmade pin:
She blogged about it here, and I am restraining myself from posting a pic of the little package I sent to her, because it may come in her mailbox today! Miesmama has a lovely little etsy shop where she sells some kickin' upcycled bags, with lovely applique, made from felted men's sweaters.

These swaps are so great. I mean, not just that you get to have some lovely hand-made stuff, but that I have this new blog-friend, someone who also favors the movie My Neighbor Totoro (one of my family's all-time faves), who likes the soundtrack from the movie Amelie (another favorite of mine, but I wore out my family's ears on it), who is inspired by nature, and who takes care of our planet.

Check out Earth and Living's happy mail day when her hankie arrived, in this post. She has some great, green ideas on her blog, including reusable cloth pee-cloths! What an idea for us girls. I used cloth wipes for my babies and laundered them, so why not? We'll leave the boys to drip dry.

I expect more hankie posts to be popping up like the snow-drops in my garden.