Welcome to the Hearth and Soul Link Party! Happy Easter! We are still close to home – actually at home – most of the time, although the slight relaxation in restrictions has meant we can now travel more than a few miles from our homes here in the UK. However, I’m particularly cognisant of those of you who have experienced an increase in cases and therefore lockdown restrictions this past week. My heart goes out to you all. Please do stay safe.
The Hearth and Soul Link Party welcomes blog posts about anything that feeds the soul. Things that feed the soul may include (but are not limited to) recipes, decorating, crafts, family, home, DIY, organization, travel, book reviews, the arts and self improvement.
What’s Been Happening?
Up until last week, we were limited to essential journeys as close to home as possible. We can now travel further afield and gather with up to one other household, to a total of six people, outside in parks and gardens (not indoors). This means we were able to see our son and his partner for the first time in months. I cannot tell you the joy it brought us! I’m so very grateful for how lovely the weather was on the days they visited.
I’ve also been getting ready for the live online Afternoon Tea Class on Friday 9th April. I’m really excited to meet those of you who have signed up! There are still a few places available (at time of writing) if you would like to join us. Click here for more details.
This week on the blog, I featured my Last Minute Easter Bread, which you can make in a bread machine. It has all the flavour of hot cross buns without all the hard work. I also revisited a twist on one of my favourite vintage recipes.
If you love healthier muffins, you will love my easy recipe for Carrot Walnut Bran Muffins. They taste like mini carrot walnut cakes with a wholesome twist!
Thank you all for visiting and sharing!
Close to Home Featured Posts
Close to home featured posts from top left, clockwise:-
My Home For All Seasons shared a beautiful Spring Vignette as well as tips to help make Designing a Spring Vignette easy and fun.
Carrie of My Book Boost has some lovely, sustainable ideas for an Earth Day Gift Basket.
This Microwave Potato Bag from Hello Sewing makes baked potatoes easy – and it’s sustainable too!
Helen of 3 Winks Design and her family have a lovely tradition of making Portuguese Easter Bread. It helps them celebrate this important season whilst remembering someone special.
Right, it’s time for the party!
The Hearth and Soul Link Party
- Please do not link to anything except blog posts. Please share the permalink to your blog post, and not to the home page of your blog.
- Linking your blog posts here means you consent to me sharing as many of them as I can on Pinterest, Twitter, and both my blog Facebook page and The Hearth and Soul Facebook Page and featuring them on my blog with photographs from the post. It’s easier for me to share if you have share buttons on your blog, and if you put links to your social media on your home page.
- Please consider sharing the party with your friends and followers. There are share buttons at the top and bottom of this post to help make it easy.
I look forward to seeing your posts!
Comments & Reviews
Happy Easter dear April – wishing you an amazing week! 🙂
Thank you so much, Ramona! Wishing you the same!
I’m so glad you got to see your son and his partner! I hugged my mother for the first time in over a year this week. She is fully vaccinated, and I’m 2 weeks past the first vaccine. So nice!
Michelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
Thank you, Michelle! I am so pleased for you too!
so many wonderful features (and shares) again! Thanks for hosting us. 🙂 I brought by some Soy Nuts – such a fun snack with lots of crunch. Hope you enjoy!
Thank you so much, CJ! I do love soy nuts – I look forward to your recipe!
Just visiting links today, nothing to linkup. I have parties open if you’d like to drop by with some of your posts.
Thank you for visiting, Dee. It’s lovely to ‘see’ you!
So glad you got to see your son and his partner! Happy Easter!
Thank you, Barbara! I hope you had a lovely Easter too!
Easter blessings to you and yours!
Thank you so much, Michele! And to you and yours!
Happy Easter April! Today was the first holiday we celebrated with family in over a year! It was wonderful!
Thank you, Leslie! I’m so pleased you had a lovely time. It really is wonderful to finally see our families again!
Hi April,
I sure hope you had a nice Easter today, your food sure looks good. We had a good Easter and have had food all day and yet everything here makes me hungry. Hope you have a good week while staying safe and thanks so much for the party!
Miz Helen
Thank you so much, Miz Helen! I hope you have a great week too!
Happy Easter, April! I’m so pleased to hear that you were able to see your son and his partner. It’s been a rough year
Also – thank you for featuring my microwaveable potato bag. I’ll be sharing more fun projects this week!
Thank you, Helen! I hope you had a lovely Easter too!
That is awesome that you were able to see your son and I hope you had a nice weekend and Easter. Thanks for hosting and have a nice week April.
We did have a lovely Easter weekend, Julie. I hope you did too! Have a lovely week ahead.
Thanks for another lovely party, April! I’ve pinned your Carrot Walnut Bran Muffins and intend to give them a try!
Niky @ The House on Silverado
Thank you so much, Niky, and thank you for pinning too! Take care and have a lovely week.
Thank you for hosting this awesome linky! I hope that you have a wonderful week ahead!
Thank you, Estelle! I hope your week is wonderful too.
I’m so glad you were able to see your son and his partner at last! The UK has done a really good job at vaccinations, from what I hear, so I hope that you’ll continue to gain more freedoms and break out from lockdowns sooner rather than later.
Thank you so much, Lisa! Take care.
Thank you for hosting each week. I really do enjoy visiting your blog and seeing what you have been working on. I created a new Facebook group named Homemade Everything. Please come by and check it out join the group and leave a post! I promise to share it on my FB Page!
Thank you so much, Marilyn. I will pop by as soon as I can. Take care!
Thank you, April, for hosting this lovely party again. I’m so happy that you were able to spend time with your son and his partner. I think being with family is the most important part of our lives and it is so hard for all of us to stay apart, especially on the holidays. Things have loosened up in Arizona as well and we are getting out a bit more, but still meeting in very small groups. I hope you enjoy your week!
Hugs,
Tee @ Teediddlydee
Thank you so much, Tee. I’m really glad that things are loosening up a bit for you as well. It’s so lovely to see the infection rates going down. Take care. Hugs x
April, I’m so glad for you, that you were able to spend time with your son! Thank you so much for featuring our Easter Bread post. It means so much.
Thank you so much, Helen! It’s a pleasure 🙂
What a blessing that your restrictions have loosened a bit. We have not been too restricted for a while now. It was such a blessing to attend church with our church family on Easter Sunday. But as you reminded us, some areas are seeing an increase in cases and our prayers are with them.
How lovely to be able to be in church on Easter Sunday, Donna! It really is a blessing infection rates are going down in many places. I pray it continues.
Thanks so much for hosting April and I’m grateful to be included in your features this week. It makes me so happy that you were able to see your son and his partner! These reunions that are happening in so many places bring so much hope for the future. Thank you again and have a wonderful week!
Thank you so much, Denise! Have a lovely week!
You’ve made me hungry for bran muffins now!
Thank you, Lauren!
We have been put back into lock-down here in Ontario, though I feel like this latest attempt to curb the spread is lame at best. We really just need a hardcore month of only grocery stores and pharmacies to be open, and people to listen to pleas to stay home and we could get the spread under control. Our government unfortunately has been dropping the ball since the beginning.
Enough about politics….. Thank you so much for hosting and I hope you had a wonderful Easter April!
I’m so sorry about the situation in Ontario, Cindy. I agree, things don’t appear to have been handled very well and it really worries me. I hope you had a wonderful Easter too, Cindy. Take care and have a wonderful week. Look forward to seeing you Friday!
I love carrot cake; those healthy muffin versions look so good!
Thank you so much, Joanne! Have a lovely rest of the week!
Happy that you got to see your son and those muffins look so yummy. Thanks for hosting and I hope that you have a wonderful week.
Thank you so much, Patrick! I did get to see my son, I’m really grateful. I hope your week is wonderful too.