April has arrived in all its glory. 

 

Today is not only April first, April Fools Day for some, but it is also Easter Sunday.  We came out of a cold and rainy week to the glory of sunshine and 84 degrees.  Someone has a connection to the weather man.  We are so glad to have the warm sunshine back again.  Happy Easter and a Blessed Passover to all.  We are hoping for a day like this for the wedding at the end of the month in Asheville.  Stay tuned, lots of April fun!

At the beginning of the week we hosted a reception for the local Princeton Alumni from our island and from Hilton Head.  We had 30 folks come to visit.  Amazing how many are in the area.  Our good friends, Jack and Genie, who come for the month of March each year, joined us in hosting the event.  I think this is maybe the fourth one we have done here.  There was one year we couldn’t do it so the event was held at another Princeton Alums house on the island.  It is a fun gathering of alumni and spouses and in some cases parents of alumni.  There is quite a range in graduation years but they all certainly have a love of their alma mater in common and they sure do like to party.

Genie did an arrangement of tulips for me which made it really feel like spring.  I remembered to put some ice cubes in the water and the tulips are still going strong.  Someone mentioned putting a penny in the vase but I tried it once and didn’t have much luck.  The cold air at night and the ice cubes really seemed to help.  Worth a try!

Walking This Week

The big race in Charleston is April 7th.  It is the Cooper River Bridge Run which is a 10k across the Cooper River so our training has been more focused for the last couple of weeks.  My walking group has done a couple of mini-bridge walks as well as some 10k walks that are on the flat.  The goal being that we want to make 10k seem like just a normal walk.  We don’t saunter but we aren’t racing just working on strength and stamina.  I missed a couple of days at the beginning of the week but then got in four good days ending with a timed 10k on Saturday just to see where I was in maintaining a good speed for the full time.  I was thrilled to see that my splits ranged from 16:59 on mile 1 to 16:01 on mile 5 and finally 16:22 overall.  This gave me a 1:42:20 for the 6.25 miles (10k).  I will be totally happy if I can do that next weekend but have been warned by my walking pals that with the crowd that we have to contend with that fast times are almost impossible because you can’t pass the pack, there isn’t any room to do so.  I’m just worried about waking up in time to catch the bus to the start.  As long as I get there and hopefully have a time under two hours, it will be considered a success.  Should be quite an adventure.  I am meeting them there so am on my own until I find them.  Both Merilyn and Sandy have done the race before so they know where they are going.  I’m the newbie on the block so we shall see how it all works.  Am pretty sure this is my last race until the fall but you never know, I might find another.

The Adventuring Kitten

  

The kittens never cease to surprise me.  Cleo discovered the library ladder this week.  She races through the house and charges right up the ladder then turns around and wonders what to do next.  Since it doesn’t really go anywhere it is just an adventure with no end.  She comes back down again and does it all over again.  I guess this is similar to climbing a tree outside.  Who knows what is going on in her head.  Maybe she is trying to get away from Wyke or her sister, Lena, with whom she occasionally will deign to sleep alongside on the back of my chair.  I am fascinated with their coloring.  It is changing, almost daily in the case of Lena the one on the right above.  She was almost pure white except for a little color on her face and feet as a baby.  Now the colors are very pronounced and she has developed a brown tummy and a brown spot on her back.  Cleo did a similar thing.  As a baby she had a slight spot on her back that looked more like she had brushed up against something dusty.  Now it is a definite spot.  In addition, her tail is definitely tri-colored.  I had read somewhere that these Ragdoll cats don’t become fully developed until they are around two years old and that until then their colors are not finished.  Cleo is 16 months old and Lena is a year old next weekend.  The picture of the lone kitten is Lena at three months old.  You can see how much darker her face is now.

An Easter Dinner Recipe from Simply Recipes for Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I was asked to bring brussels sprouts to an Easter dinner.  I have not cooked them on their own so I had to look up a recipe.  Many times I have added them to a large serving of  roasted vegetables such as peppers, potatoes, carrots, onions and asparagus but never just on their own.  So I am about to cook them so we shall see how they turn out.  PS:  Added a picture after they were cooked and btw they were delicious.  Give it a try.

 

Ingredients

About 20 brussels sprouts or a pound, trim the ends and take off the outer leaves
3 garlic cloves minced, approx. 1 tablespoon
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt
pepper
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese grated

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F
Toss sprouts in a plastic bag or bowl with the garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper
Spread the sprouts in a single layer in a roasting pan, sprinkle with salt and black pepper
Roast in the oven until the sprouts are brown, stirring occasionally, should be about 30 min.
The sprouts should be brown but not burnt.  If not brown enough after 30 minutes you can put under the broiler for a few minutes.  Add the Parmesan cheese before serving.