Saturday 23 February 2008

Spring and an Easter Giveaway



Already the days are getting longer. I am going to work now in daylight instead of dusk. The snowdrops and crocus are blooming througout my garden, as well as some of the early daffodils. Each branch is beginning to "green" and I can see the beginnings of buds breaking out on the rose bushes and the Hydrangea. I can't wait to see them come truly alive again!



The birdsong is getting a little cheerier. I listen to them as I walk up the laneway to work early in the morning, and they sound so happy. Nest building I presume, getting ready for the eggs and babies and hard work that is to come.



We got a new birdfeeder this month to replace the wooden table that we had before that was getting quite rickety, probably from having been blown over in too many wind storms. This one is a sturdy metal pole and the birds seem to love it so. We are calling it the Oak Cottage Hilton and it's nice to see them all out there enjoying themselves throughout the day. We have nuthatches, wagtails, tits, gold finches, blackbirds, song thrushes, doves, pigeons (of course) starlings (*%£$!) and our lovely little robins, just to name a few.



I know it's hard to believe, but Easter is only a month away!!!! How did that happen??? I was sitting here thinking I had oodles of time left, but only just realized that it is on the 23rd of March this year, exactly one month from tommorrow!



I love Easter. As a girl, I always had a new dress to wear to church on Easter Sunday and those itchy flesh coloured stockings of the winter were finally put away and I could wear knee socks! What a wonderful liberation! Everything seemed fresh and clean and new.



On Easter morning, our Easter baskets were full of lovely coloured eggs that my mother had painstakingly coloured with crayons from our crayon tin the night before. My favourite ones were always the ones she had done in coloured stripes, using every colour from the tin. After all the excitement had settled, she would pierce the ends of them with a pin and carefully blow out the egg inside and we would have a scrambled egg feast for our breakfasts, along with nicely browned bits of ham and buttered toast. No breakfast ever tasted finer. Sometimes she would let us have a go at the blowing and my how our cheeks would hurt aftewards. We'd spend the rest of the day with the empty coloured shells strung on yarn about our necks, like a gaily coloured necklace, each of us trying to see which one of us could get through the day without breaking any, and who would have the most unbroken coloured shells left by the end of the day.



Easter to me will always be bamboo baskets full of sparkly green Easter grass, crayon coloured eggs, icky coloured sugar eggs filled with marshmallow that I hated as a child, (but oddly enough crave now that I can't get them anymore) coloured jelly beans, and a chocolate bunny. As a child it was more often than not cheap chocolate bunny wrapped in gaily coloured foil, but now, as an adult I settle for Lindt. Rank has it's priviledges, as does age and now that I am buying my own bunny, nothing less will do.



I'd like to share some Easter Bounty with you, my readers, as well. I am giving away a Lovely gold foil wrapped Lindt Easter bunny, complete with red beribboned bell and a lovely Ferrero Rocher Egg filled with lovely chocolate and hazelnut truffles. To be in on the fun, just leave me a comment on this post, along with your preference of which of the two you would like. In two weeks time, I will draw two names and two of you lucky readers will be gifted with some extra Easter goodness this year!

This is the perfect time to come out of lurkdom and make yourselves known to me. Come on now, you know you want to! It's chocolate, and good chocolate at that!!! Who can resist???

40 comments:

  1. Oh Marie, you spoil your readers with your generous gifts of quality goodies. I loved Easter as a child, boiling eggs and decorating them before rolling down the hill on easter morning. As a teenager on easter Sunday morning we would walk up Falkland Hill to have an early morning service in the most beautiful surroundings, making you understand how fortunate we were. Sadly my children have no interest in eggs other that the chocolate ones, Easter like Christmas has lost focus.

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  2. Marie, you are so incredibly kind! Who wouldn't want to be blessed with chocolate of one sort or another. I wouldn't have to give a preference as chocolate is chocolate - no matter which form or shape. When my two older children were younger, I used to hide easter eggs all around the house and then leave clues from "the easter bunny" for them to find. There would be bunny prints up and down the stairs and they loved to find the treats at the end of each clue. It made me remember my childhood when my mom used to do the same thing. My final clue would always remind them, however, or the real meaning of easter. I also cannot believe it's just a month away. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. What a great way to welcome Spring (if it ever gets here!) Even though my youngest is now almost 13we still do Easter baskets complete with that infernal Easter grass that escapes and the colored cellophane. If I win, you pick, I will be thrilled and surprised either way!

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  4. Hi Marie,
    Oh God. That’s not fair using Chocolate to Coax, me out of my hiding place.
    Well I don’t have any Easter memories of my own but I love listening to my mom’s stories about how they used to celebrate Christmas and Easter when she was young. Somehow I associate your blog to those memories. My dad being a Muslim we never celebrated any of these occasions but I remember when I was small and my grandmother used to send me a chocolate shaped bunny and those kinder surprise eggs on Easter. But now she is no more and my link to these festivities ended with her.! I am a day dreamer sort of a person and I have always dreamed of living the simple life in a country cottage, and your blog is my link to a simple life or how it would be. and not to mention those delicious recipes Oh man I wish I could count the times I had to postpone my diet plans because of those delicious looking pictures if I didn’t have the fear of being electrocuted I would start licking my monitor .
    Best wishes and keep up the good work :D
    Fariah

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  5. I can't resist chocolate :) I prefer the lovely Ferrero Rocher Egg filled with lovely chocolate and hazelnut truffles. *Thanks* for the giveaway!

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  6. Oooh Marie! What a lovely post. I remember the thrill of coloring easter eggs, we always used hard boiled and then ate egg salad later. My son always loved doing the easter egg hunt, although he informed me at age 3 that there was no easter bunny, don't be silly! Now he likes the cadbury eggs, which are wayy too sweet for me! I think I would prefer the Lindt if I win! Have a good weekend! Raquel (Snicklefritzie from Recipezaar)

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  7. Thank you for your generosity! Sign me up for a chocolate bunny :)

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  8. I love the Easter dress photo!!! How true that we all need a liberation(great choice of words) this time of year. I have been reading all three of your blogs for quite a while now and I really look forward to them every morning! I would love to have some lovely Lindt chocolate too!!

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  9. Hi Marie,

    Just had to let you know that Easter is also a favorite holiday of mine...many great childhood memories! I am also a "bunny" collector and chocolate is ALWAYS in my daily diet! You are so kind and thoughtful to do this drawing again. I would love the Lindt Easter Bunny.

    Have a great day!!

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  10. Hiya! I love Eastertime, both with the coming of spring (my favourite season!) and the fact that my birthday falls around then. I'm so looking forward to being able to do an Easter egg hunt round the hosue with my daughter for the first time this year. If you were good enough to pick me out I'd love the Lindt for the munchkin, however I'd (personally) love the Ferrero Rocher! So actually, I wouldn't mind :-) Thank you for being so generous!

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  11. Hi Marie,

    I love your blog - such beautiful writing, great photos, and delicious recipes. I tried your Chocolate Chunk Macadamia Coconut Cookies awhile ago (I posted a review on Recipezaar), and they were insanely good - I couldn't stop eating them! Anyway, I'd love the Ferrero Rocher. Thanks for your generosity.

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  12. wow i didn't think i would ever get to leave a comment:) love this journal

    Deb

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  13. Hello Aunt Alice,
    I just wanted to let you know how much I love reading your blog Marie's Muses and a Year From Oak Cottage.
    I read them every chance I get which is nearly every day.
    Lovingly,
    Alison

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  14. Oh WOW Marie!!! You are such a kind and generous person. :) I would adore the opportunity to be entered in your give-away and I don't have to specify a preference because, alas, chocolate IS chocolate and either would be a treat! ;)

    I do enjoy the Easter holiday but it's been a different journey for me ... perhaps not one many would understand so I'll save the details. I do hope to spoil the children this year with some coloured eggs and a hunt for the candy type. We had Easter hunts as a kid ... usually indoors because the weather here (especially when Easter falls in March!!!) can be frightful! LOL! Sometimes when the weather would surprise us we would have them outdoors. We'll have to see what this year brings!

    Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for your generosity dear friend!

    xo,
    Dana

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  15. I love chocolate since it makes me feel like a child. I am messy and am always told to wipe my face when eating it. Nothing makes me feel better then having a chocolate on a really bad day. Spring is the time of year when chocolate just makes the sun feel warmer, the sky bluer, and that the world once again is new. Happy Spring to all

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  16. Not commenting for chocolate (though you tempt).

    Your post makes me sad to miss our family Easter tradition. I'm Polish, so we have a long laundry list in our baskets: a butter lamb, salt, a loaf of Easter bread, homemade kielbasa, colored eggs, and a sprig of my grandmother's spider plant for greenery.

    We go to church and have the basket blessed on Easter Saturday (and when I was young, our priest then would gather all the children and give away a baby bunny or chick or something...our family ended up getting it regardless since we lived on a farm!).

    In the wee hours of Easter morning, my grandmother would put the eggs, kielbasa and some ham in the oven to warm as we went to church. We'd come back to my grandmothers house filled with the delicious smells and dying to eat!

    Before breakfast is served, everyone gathers around the table and my grandmother blesses us and gives a wish for the coming year, and we proceed to do the same with everyone else gathered.

    Regardless of how family interacts the rest of the year, the holiday traditions seem to instantly erase all of that...but if for a moment.

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  17. Marie what a lovely idea. I love Lindt chocolates and I love bunnies. My daughter and I had a game when she was young that all her stuffed animals came to life and played with the Easter Bunny at Easter. Every year her rascally rabbit would be playing in the plant pot in the morning, her animals would be playing marbles or pearing out the window...they had been very busy during the night and they even helped the Easter Bunny hide her eggs.I remember that smile of pure joy and it still makes me smile :D

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  18. Marie,

    Thanks for the lovely comment on my blog! I loved your recounting of your Easter memories. I loved Easter as a child too. Every year when I was a child, we'd have this huge Easter party with an enourmous Easter egg hunt. My father would dress up as the Easter bunny, though I didn't know it was him until I was 10! Also, I would love to live in your critter-full landscape! I love watching birds and squirels out the window! Thanks for sending me down a delightful trip down memory lane!

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  19. I don't remember ever believing in Santa, but I can still remember when i discovered the Easter Bunny was not real! (I always knew my mother was never letting a stranger in a red suit come into our house during the night, I don't care if he did have presents, but the Easter Bunny was outside so it seemed plausible) hmm...maybe the Easter Bunny is real after all. Thanks for the give away. Cheers, Trish G.

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  20. The desserts you post look too scrumptious! Please enter me, Friend Marie, I'd love to see that bunny peeking out of a box at me!

    Laura of Harvest Lane

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  21. Wonderful post. I don't know that I could choose. But maybe the second.

    great blog you have here.

    sandy

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  22. Chocolate, chocolate, what a wonderful surprise. I enjoy your blog so much and will keep my fingers crossed you draw my name. I also have wonderful Easter memories which is one of my favorite times of the year. Have a wonderful Easter.

    Suzan Hallam

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  23. What a great Blog you have!
    Which one would I choose? Ummmm....the bunny, I think.

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  24. I loved Easter as a kid too! New dress and hat, (HAT, what other day did I wear a hat? No other day!) It's such a wonderful color palette too, lots of white and yellow is what I remember, like...well daffodils!

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  25. Marie - This blog of yours is soooo interesting.
    I LOVED reading your bit about Easter as a child.
    Soon as I can get on the PC I have a good read of all you've written and it's always so interesting.
    Thanks for giving lots of people an insight to your world.
    Jan from Recipezaar

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  26. It's gonna have to be the egg! Sounds yummy!

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  27. Hi there. I just found your blog the other day through the TWD blog. I've already got some of your recipes lined up for making in the near future. Thanks for sharing easter chocolate with us - if I win, I'd like the egg of truffles. Thank you.

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  28. Ferro Rocher is WONDERFUL! But, who can say "no" to a delightful, delectable chocolate bunny? Not I!

    Happy Easter, early! :)

    dbstout(at)juno(dot)com

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  29. I had just given up chocolate - again - and then I saw this!!! I was thinking about you not being able to get marshmallow eggs. Well I know they're not 'eggs' but have you tried Tunnocks' Tea Cakes or Tunnocks' Snowballs? The mallow in them is beyond compare. I daren't buy them (any supermarket) because it only takes one to fuel my addiction and down will go the lot. I could just imagine eating chunks of Lindt bunny alongside some of that mallow. Ahhhhhhhh.......!
    love, Angie, xx

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  30. What a lovely giveaway! I love Lindt chocolate!

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  31. Hi, I am new to your site. I love the name of it! What a fun contest! I love making up Easter baskets. Please enter me in your drawing for the
    Ferrero Rocher!" Thanks very much~
    Cindi
    jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com

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  32. Marie, Your site is a beauty, a breath of fresh air everytime I open it. I'm a bird watcher here in the States (Maryland most of the year and Georgia in winter, and loved your feeder photos.Chocolate Easter bunnies are a favorite but I also love spice flavoured jelly eggs. Happy Spring to you! Janet

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  33. Hello!
    I came to your blog through Dana at Eccentricities Studio! I'm so glad I did - your blog name sounded like somewhere I would love to be! I am from Maine (U.S.). What is also neat is that I have been looking for a biscuit recipe - and voila! your biscuit post is the first one I read! Thank you - I look forward to reading your archives and finding some more recipes! About the chocolate - I Love, Love, Love Lindt chocolate! The bunny would be my choice if I was lucky enough to win! I'm not honestly sure I would share it with my 4 children - maybe a nibble or two! Thank you so much for this chance :)
    Laurie B

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  34. You always write such lovely posts. I so enjoy seeing the photos of the seasonal changes where you live -- the birds, and animals. You've helped me realize that Easter is early this year. Where has the time gone?

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  35. oh boy would i love to take part in this i just love easter too and well its my littles frist easter so well that should even make things more grander and thats seeing a little one wakeing up on easter moreing to a big easter baskit full of all kinds of things

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  36. Hi, I've only just discovered your blog and what a lovely blog it is! I will definitely be adding you to mu blogroll so I can read about your stories and baking! I have given up chocolate for lent (i still go to church you see!) and can't wait for Easter so I can make a giant chocolate cake covered in mini eggs! Yum Yum! If you were to pick me please can I have the lindt bunny! I enjoyed reading your easter memories by the way!

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  37. My favourite Easter chocolate experience as a child was creating an egg hunt for my younger sister. I'd plan in advance all the best hiding places in the house and then think of clues for each one. I'd give her the first clue which she could use to find an egg and the next clue!
    I don't mind either of the two prizes really though if forced to express preference I'd opt for the Ferrero Rocher.
    Thanks for your kind offer and happy Easter to you!
    Kavita

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  38. Marie,

    I found you through the Daring Bakers, and I'm so glad! You have a very charmed life indeed to work in such a gorgeous place. And you have daffodils! Daffodils already! Here in sunny Colorado we are still getting snow, and I'm trying to figure out where I'm going to stow all of the seedlings I'm getting ready for my garden.

    Thanks again for such a lovely blog... I will be sure to bookmark this one.

    -erikai

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  39. Well, Marie, it took a long time for my elderly brain to figure out how to leave a comment on here, but I finally did! I just love both of your blogs so very much, even though I've not been good about commenting lately. I normally read your blogs late at night just before bed. They are the way I get my brain into a restful and peaceful state of mind. Unfortunately I'm often too sleepy to have much to say, but know that I am here!

    I hated those candy-covered white-stuff eggs, too! I wanted chocolate... I have always been a craver of chocolate. I am craving that sweet little bunny!

    I loved your story about how your family did Easter eggs!! We normally hard-boiled the eggs before coloring them, and we kids colored them ourselves... that was big fun (though it smelled strongly of vinegar). We put them into the Easter baskets ourselves, but the Easter bunny would add the wonderful candy on Easter morning. Then my mom would ask us to give her our hard-boiled eggs, and she would peel them (so sad! I like your tradition better!) and chop them up into potato salad to go with the ham for our Easter picnic lunch.

    Thanks for sharing springtime with us. Your blog makes me want to get out into the garden and grow something that I can bring back in and cook with!

    Becky

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Your comments mean the world to me, and while I may not be able to address each one individually, each one is important to me and each one counts. Thanks so much!