30th Anniversary Celebration - Top of the Hub

Recently, we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary! That's a long time, when you stop to think of it...thirty years! I'm so grateful for the steadfast love of my Hubby! So grateful to God for bringing us together.

We met through a mutual friend. My friend was best friends with his roommate, and we were visiting him. I was sitting in his living room when he came home that day. He often jokes, "You can't beat it when God delivers her right to your house!" We were engaged two months later, and married six months after that.

And now, thirty years later, we were celebrating our love! Part of our anniversary celebration was our weekend away in February at the Mount Washington Hotel. And the second half was a very special dinner at The Top of the Hub restaurant in Boston. Dressing up for a night on the town!

It is on the 52nd floor of the Prudential Center with a sweeping view of the entire city. We were so grateful for a crystal clear day with a view that stretched forever! Almost in the middle of this picture is Boston Common and the Public Garden. Stretching between them and the bottom left corner of this picture are the rooftops of the Back Bay.

Zooming in on Copley Square, named for the artist John Singleton Copley.

Dinner was a scrumptious three course affair...every one with a pairing of wine. We each started with pumpkin ravioli with goat cheese. Then Hubby had the steak and I had the chicken. And we both enjoyed creme brulee with fresh berries for dessert.

We purposely timed our reservation to allow us to see the city in the daylight, and then enjoy the magic of lights coming on and the dazzling sight of the city at night. It couldn't have been more perfect!

Easter

1. "...Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
   Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
   Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia!
   Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!..."
2. - Charles Wesley (1739)
3. He is risen! He is risen indeed! Joyful Easter blessings rang out between us and friends and family near and far on Sunday! We hope you had a wonderful celebration of Christ's resurrection with your family too.

After worshiping at church, everyone came to our house for the rest of the day. We were grateful for temperatures in the 50's and no snow in the backyard, so we could have the egg hunt there.

Then it was time for appetizers. Again...loving our appetizer plates! Don't you just adore this picture? SOMEONE is passing by all those tempting veggies and going straight for the gummy bears and worms! Got to love it!

The table had a "gardening" sort of look this year...an abundance of floral, glass and silver baskets, and cloches which contained tiny plants.

And more of the appetizer plates did double-duty as bread and butter plates. And each one had a little bread and butter knife, which I've been collecting at antique stores throughout New England. It was the first time we've given the grandkids knives, and I was envisioning that they would be turned to "sword play" during dinner, but everyone was quite restrained...even the adults!

- DINNER MENU -

Appetizer

Vegetable Platter with Tatziki and Spinach Dip

Main Course

Brown Sugar-Coated Ham

Roasted Red Potatoes

Fruit Salad

Roasted Asparagus

Dinner Rolls/Butter

Dessert

Chocolate Cake with Berries

Mango Sorbetto

Raspberry Sorbetto

I had made other plans for dessert, as you may recall, but then we decided to celebrate Felicity's birthday on Easter. So, Colette made her a decadent chocolate cake and we piled it high with berries! Simple and delicious!

And there was a great deal of adorableness (which involved about 5-10 minutes of clapping and encouragment to "smile" and "put your hands down" and "look at the camera") and hugs all around.

Blessings beyond measure! 

Beautiful Blooms

Recently, Colette and I toured the conservatory at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.

We had hoped that there would be snow on the ground, and we would have the thrill of stepping out of the snowy landscape into the warm, moist conservatory filled with living, blooming plants...the stark contrast was what we yearned to experience. But even though we had plenty of snow on the ground at our house, there was no snow at all in Northampton, MA. But our disappointment at our timing disappeared instantly when we entered, for we learned that we had arrived just after their spring bulb show, and that all the bulbs were still blooming. Oh, riotous spring blooms! And the aroma!

We learned that conservatories were called "orangeries" in Europe, and were begun by the French who wanted some way to grow citrus in winter. (When we were in England last year, we had tea at the Orangerie at Kensington Palace, which was a former conservatory or "orangerie".) When we left the bulb rooms, we moved into a small room which grew citrus. The smell of orange blossoms! That is one thing I miss about California!

From there we passed through one room after another. Some were divided by continent with horticultural specimens from each. And others were divided by type of plant...ferns, cacti, water plants, etc.

Neither of us had ever been in a large, glass conservatory before, and we decided that they appeal to our inner Victorians...everything beautiful and orderly, showing a fascination with the natural world, and sort of a way to travel to the far reaches of the world without really going anywhere. Plus, we could sit surrounded by exotic plants without fear that a large millipede was going to crawl over our feet, or a monkey drop down on our heads! You're laughing...but that really was what I was thinking!

It's the best sort of bean...a cocoa bean! It was actually labeled "Cocoa Bean - Chocolate Tree".

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit there, and have decided that we need to seek out more of these conservatories. I'm particularly interested in finding one that grows giant lily pads. Have you ever been to one? Do you have any you recommend?

New Hampshire Maple Weekend

Every year, around the end of March, New Hampshire celebrates Maple Weekend. All throughout the state, sugar shacks open their doors to visitors who come to see the process of turning maple sap into maple syrup. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup! 

Hubby and I started out last Saturday by visiting a popular sugar shack and pancake house for breakfast! Steam puffed out of their sugar house's chimney pipe from their wood-fired evaporator.

The wait was long, but the blueberry waffles were worth it!

Then we traveled down a dirt, country road as we followed the signs that led to a family-owned sugar shack. A large number of neighbors and curious maple seekers, like ourselves, were gathered about chatting, watching the operation, and sampling the sweet, sticky syrup.

The sample was DE-licious! And this sweet, little glass bottle full of the liquid amber came home with us!

Pancake Saturday

Since it's Maple Season in New England, I thought it would be fun to have a Pancake Party! Felicity, Walter, and the kiddos came over Saturday for a little morning feast.

I offered four different types of pancakes: buttermilk, buttermilk with green food coloring (as it was St. Patrick's Day), blueberry, and coconut. Hubby wanted buttermilk. And everyone else wanted coconut (with seconds of coconut with a crazy swirl of green food coloring). Coconut pancakes are delicious!...and more filling than a regular pancake. Click here for the recipe. (I served it with real maple syrup, and I used plain flour vs. coconut flour.)

Applewood- and cob-smoked bacon, a smattering of blueberries, and orange juice rounded out the meal. Sticky, happy smiles all around!