It has been such a long winter- I am so happy to see Spring flowers in my garden and in other’s gardens!  In my own flower beds I have crocuses, forget me nots, and vinca.  Very soon daffodils and tulips will be blooming.  Also the first dandelions are up!

Magnolia trees are beautiful this time of year, as are lilacs and forsythia.  Cherry, apple and pear blossoms are a bit later.   Leaflets are budding out on many trees in the area.

The lawns are greening up with our copious Spring rain  and soon the sounds of lawn mowers will be heard.  We have applied our first Spring fertilizer and I would like to visit a plant nursery to buy some pansies for pots near my front door and on back patio.

Here is some Vinca for you!

Many people who are Irish or Irish for a day claim St. Patrick as their favorite saint.  The wearing o the green is celebrated and Irish traditional foods are eaten on his day.

In honor of the day, I laid my table with a green plaid  (yes, the Irish also have plaids) and my small collection of Beeleek Irish porcelain inherited from my grandmother-in-law.

Beginning in the wee hours, I cooked corned beef with cabbage, potatoes and carrots, a pork roast with mashed potatoes, brown sugared carrots, cabbage fried with ham, and baked two loaves of Irish soda bread with real butter from Ireland.

We finished the evening listening to Irish fiddle played by my daughter- she played Swallowtail Jig, which is my favorite song that she plays.  Of course we also listened to Danny Boy and wiped away a tear.

Shakespeare is an author that many students are required to read at some point.  I took an English Literature class in high school (a while ago), and even took a class with my husband at a community center in which we read A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Macbeth aloud round robin style.

My high school aged daughter is reading Hamlet, which I have not read.  I dug out my husband’s copy of The Riverside Shakespeare–  a ponderous tome, and have started reading Hamlet for myself.

Today I was determined to get some exercise, sun, and yard work done.  I took Miss Maddie on a two block walk (about the most either of us can do at a time) and then did a little weeding in the front garden.

I pulled up half a dozen dandelions, lots of another spreading weed (I should look it up), and checked on the progress of my desirable plants- crocus, daffodil, tulip, violets, hosta, chrysanthemum, and day lily.  I noticed neighbor’s iris swards poking through – I should check on mine on the south side of the house.

I discovered a little patch of forget me nots blooming that cheered me up greatly!

While reading my nightly Agatha Christie novel, I do run across words and ideas that are not familiar to me, being an American.  Most Agatha Christie novels, being set in a different time and place, mention food and customs that I like to read more about.

Afternoon tea ( a late lunch)  can be a sandwich and drink (hot tea, lemonade, beer).  This is different than a high tea- which is more substantial- with sandwiches, scones, and cake.   My daughter and mother in law like to visit a local tea room a couple times a year for a festive high tea.

I recently visited a local British shop and purchased fish paste and ham and chicken paste, which is a jarred sandwich filling.  The unappetizing name of fish paste, etc is what Americans would call tuna, ham, or chicken SALAD.  The taste was acceptable, but the texture was as smooth as paste!

A nice Sunday breakfast was enjoyed this morning by hubby, daughter, and myself.  It is the only day of the week that most of us are able to eat breakfast together, and actually eat the same thing (daughter is a vegetarian who eats fish and eggs).  Today, I cooked scrambled eggs, kippers (a smoked fish), toast with homemade strawberry jam that I made yesterday, and coffee.

With bacon being so expensive now days, I rarely cook it.  Smoked fish is a good substitute for bacon- it is smoky and salty (not crunchy, however).  In my area of the USA, kippers are usually canned like anchovies and sardines- although they can be shipped or purchased at British shops frozen.  I found that the frozen ones- thawed and gently heated in butter tasted the best.

This morning I plan to do some minor housework and then some yard work.  Our little spell of lovely weather is over and it is still 40F, but that is no excuse for a little weeding and tidying in the garden.  The spring flowers are coming up- crocuses are already blooming, tulips and daffodils are up, my hostas and day lilies survived the winter as well as those dratted wild onions that need tended to!

I am so excited to be planning a seaside summer holiday (vacation to Americans)!

I love to walk (ankle deep) in the water on a sandy beach, watch for dolphins, collect sea shells, construct sand castles and fly kites in the evenings.  Enjoying the boardwalks and eating frozen lemon custard is something I look forward to also.

The best part of my vacation will be the seafood!  I especially like crab, and can’t wait to eat at a favorite crab house once (or twice).

It is a little early in the season for strawberries around here, but I did get a good price, and spring fever is upon me so I am making little jars of strawberry jam.

I cooked and mashed my berries with sugar and lemon juice, and ladled the syrupy goodness into my boiled jars.  The first batch is processing now in my stock pot with a towel folded on the bottom since I no longer have fancy canning gear (in my younger years I did!)

I have several birds that are black in my garden, but saw my first red winged blackbird yesterday! I like red winged blackbirds and get unaccountably excited whenever I see one.   They have  a distinctive birdsong.

I pottered around in the garden a little this afternoon, and it appears that the hostas that I transplanted late last fall survived and will hopefully like their new shady home better.

Tomorrow I plan to visit the hardware store and purchase spring weed and feed, refill the bird feeders, put out a nesting box or two, and do a little weeding.

This Sunday’s cooked breakfast included eggs and bacon, coffee and tea, and crumpets with lemon curd.

Crumpets are similarly shaped as English muffins, and are eaten similarly for breakfast with toppings of butter, jams, etc but they are NOT the same.

One difference is that crumpets are cooked on one side, with bubbles and crannies appearing on the top side only.  They are not split in half as are English muffins, and they have a more tender texture.

I inserted them into the toaster unsplit, and afterwards spread lemon curd (a topping tasting and looking quite like lemon pie filling).  They were tender and tasty and definitely, in my opinion, better than English muffins and will be replacing them in my household from now on.