Preparations for Easter

We're going to have a small Easter celebration here.   My sister and I have invited our great-grandmother (Ellie's great-great-grandmother) to Easter brunch following our outdoor service in the morning.

Grandma and Ellie back at Thanksgiving

I'm hoping for good weather to order to

1.  Wear our Easter best without being cold.
2.  Be able to enjoy brunch outdoors in our backyard.
3.  Truly feel like celebrating Easter.   Jesus rose . . . shouldn't the day be sunny and bright?

Anyway, as a gift to my Mom (and Dad - but it's mostly for an early Mother's Day gift), I decided to green up our lawn in time for Easter.   As you all know original plans called for them to be home on Easter and I figured that if they were home, we would have a celebration outside.

During dethatching process

Well, maybe it's better that they haven't come home yet, because the lawn is not quite green yet.  For awhile, I was afraid I had only made it worse, but it is slowly turning green again.  I'll get an updated picture soon, maybe just before Sunday.

Thatch -  dead grass and roots that stifle the air and nutrients from the soil

Today, I have a rare day without work and I'm pulling everything together for Easter brunch.   Grilled pineapple ham steak, mashed potatos, sourdough rolls, and fresh fruit are on the menu.  Unfortunately, I'm nursing a bit of a cold, but I think that will be gone by the time I have to prepare food on Sunday.  For now, I'm just making sure I have everything I need.

One thing that was not in my power to control is our beautiful tree in the backyard.   It has fully leafed now and I just love it.

Green, green, green!  I did trim away the dead branches that had gotten caught when we had two winter storms.

Well, I'd better be off and running; happy Easter to all!