Giveaway Winner - Stormy weather - Baking

Wow, quite a night, and now a wild morning after. Severe storms bringing tornados, 

baseball sized hailstones, trees down, power outages, and flooding, roll across the

 country once again leaving a trail of destruction. . . . .  but hopefully no deaths or

 serious injuries. Properties are heavily damaged in some areas, and south of us

an area of North Carolina has thousands now without power. We have been lucky

here in our area.

I didn't sleep much and was up by 6 AM which is early for me, especially these days!

I had no idea what to do so got in the shower, washed my hair, and just let the water 

drown out the outdoor noise of the storm. Small branches fell littering the the deck

 and garden, treetops swayed violently, emergency vehicle sirens sounded, and

 mama finch's nest in the hanging basket spun around like a wild carnival

 ride. . . . . but she stayed tucked in!

It's still blowing and raining off and on, but the sun is promised later - from what
 I can see there's no real damage here, just a lot of clean up when things dry out
in the next day or so hopefully.

The fig tree appears greener than ever.

Anyway, once Bob was up I grabbed him to pick the Tea Towel Giveaway winner!

Here we go. . . . . . . .

. . . . . .we tossed all the names of each of you who had commented on the Giveaway

 post in his Boston Red Sox cap, and he pulled out Marilyn's entry!  I think we both

 just stood there gaping at each other and then said "Wow, it's Marilyn!"  

She's a dear and lovely tea lady friend from Portland, Oregon and, although I wish all

 of you could have won, we know she going to enjoy the book because if there's 

anyone who knows about tea and tea time, it's definitely Marilyn. 

So congratulations dear Marilyn - I'll be in touch regarding mailing the book.

I know some of you already follow Marilyn's delightful blog aptly titled

DELIGHTS OF THE HEART  - but if not, do visit and meet her soon.

Thanks to all who entered the Giveaway and for leaving fun comments on 

your tea towel collections and ironing!

More to come in another post regarding what I'm doing to keep busy whilst still

 locked down - which I guess is better than being locked up!

Hope your Easter weekend was good despite being so different from usual.

I baked these pistachio muffins again for Easter Sunday - everyone who tries them

 seems to love them - and shared with neighbors.

Stay safe, stay strong, be well.

'Trumpets' and strawberries!

After some thunderstorms last night and an early morning shower, 

the sun is out, shining brightly into the east facing upstairs bedroom. 

Another 80F day ahead but no garden watering required.

Yesterday I almost fell over when I checked the arbor and

 noticed such a mass of blooms on the trumpet vine - the best I can recall

in the years of growing, being cut down, and climbing up again! Maybe it was

due to the very mild winter weather.

Bob at work in the garden, plenty to keep him busy.

Note we also have fairy lights on the arbor - it's very bright 

and cheery in the evenings.

  Yesterday we also heard there were fabulous local strawberries for sale at a

 roadside stand nearby. Bob gathered his mask and car keys and took a

 quick ride - his first time out in a week - to get some.

There can be no 'PICK YOUR OWN' customers in the berry patch this spring due

 to the virus isolation rules, so this farmer is bringing them to us. He expects to 

have berries for at least two months so I know we'll be back often.

Yes,  I'm washing them well!

These have to be the best tasting strawberries ever, and I like that the

 basket held assorted sizes.

Don't forget, Bob will be pulling the winner's name from his hat on Monday!

If you didn't leave a comment on my post regarding the book giveaway, there's 

still a chance to win if you go to this post, GIVEAWAY

Hope you join in.