Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday

The start of Lent

 The day we get a cross of ashes on our forehead during our church services

Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust

It's also the day 

That we get out the dozen handprinted real hens eggs  that we bought over 25 years ago on a

Lenten trip to Germany

We've always put them in the dining room

For that's where the Easter egg tree always was in Germany

We inquired about them from our bed and breakfast hosts

Bought them at Woolworth's  for around 1M each

A nice remembrance of a wonderful trip

And we're purists . . . no other eggs on our tree

Whenever I think I should add another egg, I think how special these 12 are

And I don't want to spoil that specialness with any new addition!

This year we decided to add some rabbits

On the buffet in the dining room

In Germany, it would have been an Easter cactus

Every bed and breakfast had an Easter egg tree and an Easter cactus in their dining room!

Besides being the Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent,

it's also St. David's Day

(The Patron Saint of Wales)

My brother is a David

And now that I've found out how much British I am, it's only right that we celebrate

this Welsh holiday

Daffodils on the tea table this afternoon

A cock-a-leekie pie for dinner

The Brits are so into savory pies for dinner and this pie full of chicken and leeks

is yummy and cock-a-leekie soup is almost a British National Dish!

Of course, based on our experience in Wales, it should be something

with lamb . . . there are, after all more sheep than there are Welch in Wales!