Easter Bread

My family makes this bread together every year at Easter. It is one of my favorite traditions. Michelle mixed the dough by hand and it turned out beautifully.

The Shadone is our family recipe - an egg bread layered with lots of cheese, ham and raisins and then a lattice of more bread. Its delicious.

Quilt Show

I am hoping to work up the nerve to make a quilt and so I thought I'd visit the Quilt Show which came to town recently. I've also started hanging out with a group of ladies who are in their 60's who call themselves the Fibroids and meet monthly to work on their fiber arts projects. They are talented and a good influence on me, I hope.

At the show I saw some nice quilts. I especially like the variations of pattern in the stitching in this quilt.

Trapunto above and Applique below - such detail and so much work - don't think I'll ever be making anything like this

A cute lady in front of the quilt photo backdrop - there were lots of nice ladies like this at the quilt show.

Apple Orchard

Probably one of the best things ever - visiting an apple orchard in the springtime!

A Bike Ride to Yellow Springs!

We've always wanted to ride our bicycles on the little miami scenic bike trail all the way to Yellow Springs. We decided it would be a good thing to do to celebrate our wedding anniversary this year, so on Saturday we made the trip, biking the longest ride of our lives - 60 miles! Luckily, we had some great company. Our friends Rob and Paige tagged along. They were very cute on their bicycle for two.

The ride was more challenging than I would have anticipated which I partially blame on all the extra gear I was hauling which in retrospect is kind of crazy - mason jars of pickled okra and apple butter, a bottle of wine, glasses to drink it with of course, 2 heavy water bottles, 2 cans of sparkling water, more foodstuff like trail mix, salmon pate, crackers, hard boiled eggs, change of clothes, toiletries, rain jacket, etc. My knees just gave out by the end of the ride and I thought I was sort of in shape. I have been riding every weekend since I've had my new bike. But I guess nothing prepares you for the longest ride of your life. Andy did great but I swear he rode half the way standing up. Must be all those years of riding pedicab. It was oh so satisfying to reach the destination and be done with the ride. We really were happy and ready to celebrate. By the way the weather was constantly changing - it was cold, it was cloudy, it was sunny, it was stormy, it was warm, it rained, it hailed. But we were lucky because we never got soaked. We were really grateful to our friends Johnny and Gillian who decided to drive down and bring us our car so we didn't have to turn around and bike back on Sunday. Even better, we all got to hike around Clifton Gorge and see the pretty spring flowers and have a leisurely day together.