Easter weekend

Have you had a good Easter weekend? Ours has been a lovely mixture of inside and out. I went for a couple of walks in the area to see what was new in nature and saw my first butterflies of the year. A small tortoiseshell...

and a peacock.

Flowers are still few and far between but I did see plenty of daisies, lungwort and coltsfoot.

Thanks to Amanda of The Quiet Walker who is following a tree, I was also able to identify a group of larch trees. I'm going to try harder this year to identify trees in our area. I have the impression that there's mostly silver birch and willow but I'm sure I'll find more than that!

We also had a day out at Speke Hall but I'll save the photos for another time. This is a muddy view down to the river Mersey. It felt so good to be out under the warmth of sunshine and blue skies.

Homewise, as of today, I am the owner of a new fence! Is it normal to be excited about a fence?

Probably more understandable to be excited about cake. Parsnips were on special offer in Aldi so I decided to have a go at making parsnip cake, despite the fact that Chickpea hates them! I used this basic recipe but added my own flavourings of lemon, ginger and cardamom. Highly recommended and not a parsnip flavour in sight.

Lastly...

I finally finished my blanket! I used Lucy's cosy stripe pattern and yarn pack but added three of my own colours (a dark purple, bright pink and mustard yellow). I enjoyed making it so much that I've now started a ripple.

So I still have my journal quilt to show you and the photos from Speke Hall. I'm hoping to have more time soon as I'm only back at work for 4 days and then have 2 whole weeks off - I can't wait!

Enjoy the rest of this long weekend. xx