Hello and welcome to the May 2023 edition of The Hearth and Soul Link Party! The weather is still capricious here but we have been enjoying time in the garden nonetheless. My husband and I hired Faith of My Country Garden (not an affiliate link) to refresh our garden back in 2021. She has been visiting seasonally with her team ever since to make the garden look beautiful every month of the year. We are so pleased with the results. For a glimpse of my garden in full bloom click here. Thanks to the lovely Emma, my regular gardener, for her hard work as well. As you can see from the photo above, I stick to planting pots and leave the actual garden to the professionals!
The Hearth and Soul Link Party welcomes family-friendly 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.
The Latest – May 2023 Edition
By the time you read this, the coronation will be over and King Charles III will have been crowned. However, as I write, there is a huge amount of excitement in the air! I visited London on Tuesday and the preparations were in full swing. Security was understandably tight but I was able to get quite close to the action at St James Palace. There were lots of beautiful decorations all over the capital.
Click here to see more of London getting ready for its big day.
The Latest On the Blog – May 2023 Edition
I had a wonderful day in Hampshire in mid-April, with private tours of Jane Austen’s House, Chawton House and Jane Austen’s Alton.
Join me on my special tour of Jane Austen’s House here and watch this space for upcoming articles on Chawton House and the historic village of Alton.
If there was ever a time to enjoy Coronation Chicken, it is surely now!
This delicious salad, which was served at the coronation of our late Queen, has been enjoying a resurgence here in the UK. If you chop the ingredients more finely you can also use Coronation Chicken as a filling for tea sandwiches. Don’t forget to cut off the crusts!
The latest foodie treat on the blog is this delicious recipe for Cheese Scones.
You won’t believe how easy they are to make! I like to have them as part of a savoury afternoon tea or alongside a bowl of soup for lunch – but honestly, I would eat them any time of day they are so good.
If you prefer sweet scones, don’t miss my Grandma’s recipe.
The Hearth and Soul Community
Please join the Hearth and Soul Community on Facebook. In addition to choosing featured posts from the content shared here, I also choose features from the community as well.
Feel free to share posts which you have shared here at the May 2023 edition of the party in the group as well, to give them even greater visibility and an extra chance of being featured.
May 2023 Edition – Featured Posts
Thank you for sharing your inspiring posts. Here are just a few that caught my eye.
From the Hearth and Soul Link Party
This Upcycled Rainbow Scrap Wreath from Creatively Beth is so colourful and pretty. It’s perfect for spring!
Linda of Paper Seedlings encourages us to explore our creativity with #365 birds. Linda is drawing a bird a day for 365 days and she has some beautiful pictures to share. The Claret-Breasted Fruit Dove is my favourite so far.
I know Easter has come and gone, but I just have to feature these cute Easter Bunny Cinnamon Rolls from Carol of Comfort Spring Station. These are definitely worth pinning for next year.
I have been exploring my writing roots recently and writing more poetry. I love the idea to try writing poetry or a prayer around your one word theme for 2023 from Lisa Notes. If you decide to try this, Lisa would love it if you would share what you write.
I love mini desserts, and these Mini Mocha-Toffee Crunch Cheesecakes from Tracey at The Kitchen is My Playground look amazing!
From the Hearth and Soul Community on Facebook
Nancy from Colors 4 Heath shared some Amazing May Fun Facts and some awareness days and months that could come in very handy.
I always enjoy Elizabeth of Pine Cones and Acorns’ Weekend Meanderings, full of inspiration and ideas. One of the things Elizabeth shared in this edition was Kelmscott Manor, the home of William Morris. It turns out this beautiful property is open for visits and it is only an hour from my house, so I have added it to my list of places to visit. Thank you, Elizabeth!
Niky from The House on Silverado laid a beautiful Easter Table with Vintage China. This feast for the eyes also offers lots of inspiration for spring entertaining.
The Hearth and Soul Link Party – May 2023 Edition
Thank you for your support of Hearth and Soul!
The Hearth and Soul Link Party is held monthly, opening on the first Sunday of every month and remaining open until the 25th of the month, or until 300 entries are reached. Please share a maximum of 8 links per month.
Please share the permalink to your blog post with the May 2023 edition, not a link to the home page of your blog. Please do not link to anything except blog posts.
By submitting a post to the May 2023 edition of the link party here, you assert that you own the content and photographs. You also give me permission to share them here on the blog as well as on Pinterest, Twitter, and both my own Facebook page , The Hearth and Soul Link Party page and The Hearth and Soul Community Facebook Group.
The May 2023 edition is open until the 25th of May so please come back as often as you like! I will visit share as many posts as I can across my social media platforms. Please share the party with your friends and followers using the buttons at the top of the post.
Wishing you a May full of blessings! I can’t wait to see what you will share this month!
Comments & Reviews
April, I enjoy virtually traveling with you. And I can virtually taste your scones from across the pond. Thank you for hosting this wonderful community sweet friend.
Linking up at #4&5.
Thank you so much, Paula! I hope you have a wonderful May, my friend!
April, you have so much here that’s wonderful today! First, your private tours of Jane Austen’s homes. Wow! I will leave a comment on the post you have up on thus far but look forward to your other reports as well.
Your Cheese Scones look a lot like my Cheese Biscuits. I bet they’d be easy to make gluten free.
All the highlights are lovely. The rainbow scrap wreath is so much fun. (I made a similar one years ago by tying colorful ribbon scraps onto a grapevine wreath.) I love the purposeful and inspiring use of words and the daily bird drawings. The Easter Bunny Cinnamon Rolls concept could easily be applied to gluten-free cinnamon rolls. Likewise, I’m sure those mini toffee crunch cheesecakes could be made with another base to make them gf but equally delicious. I appreciate the May Fun Facts post. You know how I feel about celebrating special days and months. The William Morris house–and the tales that go with it–is very interesting, especially to me as someone who majored in English. (I never tire of visiting such historic homes and learning more about their occupants.) That Easter table is glorious!
I’ve linked up some outstanding gluten-free “bready” recipes this week. The Best Gluten-Free Croissant and Crescent Roll Recipes and a Paleo Bread recipe. All will make gluten-free and gluten-full folks happy!
Thanks so much for hosting, April! Hope you have a wonderful week!
Shirley
Thank you so much, Shirley!
I am hoping to try the scones recipe with gluten-free flour soon. I agree, savoury scones and traditional biscuits have a lot in common! I love how food is similar but different from country to country, as well as how sometimes we call what is actually exactly the same thing by a different name.
I am so glad you enjoyed the features. There’s always such a lot of wonderful content shared, I find it hard to choose what to feature.
I love “bready” recipes. I look forward to visiting your posts!
Thank you for visiting and sharing, Shirley, as well as for all your support! Have a wonderful week!
April
Many thanks for the feature of my Easter bunny cinnamon rolls. Wishing you a gorgeous May!
My pleasure, Carol. I hope your May is wonderful too!
I’m afraid I’m losing my love for planting flowers every spring. 🙁 I didn’t plant much last year and haven’t yet this year. But I love looking at everyone else’s. Maybe your pots will inspire me. 🙂
I watched most of the coronation that was televised and find the celebration to be so colorful compared to anything we do here.
Thanks for sharing my One Word post. I would definitely enjoy having others join in the fun if they’re interested!
I’m definitely glad I have some help with the planting, Lisa, so I totally understand. I wouldn’t be able to do it all by myself. That’s why I stick to the little pots 😉
We really enjoyed the Coronation as well. We also enjoyed watching the Coronation Concert from Windsor that was televised last night.
It’s a pleasure to share your posts. I love that you are following through with the one word theme. It’s easy to get side-tracked and forget, but you are helping me to keep my word of the year at the forefront of my mind.
Have a lovely May!
You have a lot going on. Thanks for hosting and I hope that you have a wonderful May. I will be back.
Thank you for visiting and sharing, Patrick! I appreciate your support of Hearth and Soul, and how you share throughout the month.
Have a wonderful May, and I look forward to your posts.
April, you are so sweet! I love that you featured my birdies post and the nice words you shared about me and my challenge. Thank you! Smiles, Linda at Paper Seedlings
Thank you so much, Linda. It’s my pleasure!
Congratulations to the new King and Queen! Have a wonderful spring, April
Thank you so much for visiting and sharing, Pat.
It really was exciting watching the Coronation and the Coronation concert last night. We had fun at our street party too, despite the rainy weather. It was very British 😂
Wishing you a wonderful spring too!
What a great collection of projects! Thanks for hosting and enjoy your week!
Shelley
Thank you so much for visiting and sharing, Shelley! Have a lovely week!
The scones look delicious! I could make a plant based version with vegan milk, cheese and butter. I love a traditional afternoon tea!
Emma xxx
http://www.style-splash.com
Thank you, Emma! If you do try a vegan version, please do let me know how it goes. I think everyone should be able to enjoy a traditional afternoon tea! xxx
April, thanks so much for hosting. Just a side note, my husband and I watched all of the coronation and were fascinated by so many aspects of it: the history, the pageantry, the solemnity, and the fact that it was a religious service, among other things.
My pleasure, Donna. Thank you for visiting and sharing! I’m so glad you enjoyed watching the coronation. Not everyone knows that one of the really important parts of the King’s job is to be head of the Church of England (part of the Anglican communion). I’m so glad that religion and faith is still a big part of the ceremony. Have a lovely week!
Hi April! Thank you for hosting in the midst of all the coronation excitement! It looks like you are having a wonderful Spring! It is even more wonderful to enjoy this weather after the pandemic years!
Hi Helen! My pleasure! It really is lovely to enjoy the sunny days after all the pandemic years. It has been pretty rainy here recently, but it is definitely making the flowers grow. The fields are so lush and green as well. Have a wonderful week!
April, the chicken salad and scones look so good. How exciting to visit Jane Austen’s house. I hope you are enjoying spring.
I hope you are enjoying spring too, Julie! Thank you for the compliments and for visiting and sharing! It really was exciting to visit Jane’s House. I can’t wait to share more about Chawton House and Alton itself. Have a lovely day!
Thank you for hosting such a wonderful community April.
Blessings, Jennifer
Thank you so much for being a part of Hearth and Soul, Jennifer! Blessings!