Hello and welcome to the Hearth and Soul Link Party! I hope this finds you and yours safe and well. What a journey this time in our lives is. Here in England, we are still being encouraged to stay safe at home where we can, and that is exactly what my husband and I are doing at our home in Berkshire. Our son and his partner are safe at home in Cambridgeshire, nearly three hours away. It is hard being apart, especially today on Mother’s Day, but we pray it will all be worth it to keep safe and well.
Whether your blog posts are old or new, as long as they are about things that feed the soul, they are welcome here at The Hearth and Soul Link Party. 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.
How are things going for you, and what are things like where you are? I truly hope you and yours are well and that you haven’t lost anyone to this terrible disease. Are you able to stay safe at home, or does your work require you to be out and about?
What’s Been Happening
We had a holiday on Friday in the UK to mark the 75th Anniversary of VE Day, the day that the Allies accepted the surrender of Nazi forces in World War 2. It was an emotional day, especially under the circumstances, but we all found ways to celebrate and pay tribute to the amazing people who made our peace and freedom possible.
We observed a two minute silence at 11am, and we also had a friends and family VE Day party online. Here I am with my husband safe at home raising a toast to the occasion and to the memory of those who made VE Day possible.
I made a few treats to celebrate the day, including a traditional British teatime treat, Lemon Drizzle Cake.
I doubled the recipe and made one large cake plus two smaller ones, so I could share a couple of cakes with our neighbours. I just had to keep an eye on the smaller cakes as they took slightly less time to bake. When the cakes were cool I wrapped them up and popped them on our neighbour’s doorsteps as a little VE Day treat while we all stay safe at home.
It’s National Vegetarian Week this week in the UK.
As an Occasional Vegetarian, I really enjoy meat free meals. Whether you are a confirmed meat eater, or vegetarian eating is a way of life for you, don’t miss my 3 Day Vegetarian Menu for some delicious recipe inspiration.
Thank you so much to you all for your support of Hearth and Soul and for sharing your wonderful content. It’s always hard to choose just 4 featured posts as I enjoy all your blogs!
Safe at Home Featured Posts
Safe at Home featured posts include (from top left, clockwise):-
I so enjoyed reading Our Mother’s Stories from Pam Ecrement of A New Lens. Her mother’s story sheds a whole new light on the idea of safe at home. What happens when your childhood home is destroyed, and how does that affect you in future? Also do we really know our mothers? This is such a thought provoking piece, and a real tribute to Pam’s lovely mother.
Is Your Home Your Castle? is a little glimpse into the life of Jeanne at Selep Imaging during these challenging days, as well as beautiful views of a family vacation in days gone by.
Amy from Days of Small Things offers her thoughts on being safe at home as well as a delicious Chocolate Cobbler recipe in ‘Comforted’.
Leslie from My Gluten Free Cucina has make your own take away that is safe for those who need to eat gluten free and delicious for all with her Crock Pot Asian Chicken recipe.
The Hearth and Soul Link Party
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I look forward to seeing what you will bring to the party this week, and to sharing your posts. Take care, stay safe at home where you can and stay well.
Comments & Reviews
Happy Mother’s Day April – sorry you and your son were apart but hope you enjoyed your day anyway – thanks for hosting – have a fabulous week! 🙂
Thank you, Ramona! I hope your week is wonderful too!
Belated Happy VE Day! I am fortunate to have my mother close by. She is 10 minutes from me, and we have plans to celebrate tomorrow, in order to avoid weekend crowds. Our shelter in place order has been lifted, although it is recommended that all the precautions continue to be followed. We aren’t changing our habits.
The lemon drizzle cake looks delicious. I’ll be pinning that one!
Stay well, my friend!
Michelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
Thank you, Michelle! I hope you had a lovely day with your mother 🙂 Thank you for pinning my Lemon Drizzle Cake as well! Take care and stay well, my friend!
I didn’t realize that VE Day is a recurring holiday. I’m raising a (virtual) belated toast with you. My husband and I have no plans to go out for anything other than groceries. Our state was the first to reopen even though the number of cases continues to rise, but we intend to continue sheltering at home. We had planned a trip to visit our daughter who is 1400 miles away, but that, like so much else, is on hold. Take care
We don’t normally get a Bank Holiday for VE Day (although it’s always mentioned in the press). It’s just that this year is the 75th Anniversary so there were meant to be big celebrations. Of course all the big things were cancelled, but we did do some things online. Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall led the 2 minutes silence and The Queen addressed the nation in the evening. I’m so sorry your trip to your daughter has been put on hold, Sandra. I agree, sheltering at home is the best place to be! I’m not sure how things will go here. They are sort of talking about moving forward with relaxing restrictions but it’s very wooly and most people are quite nervous. Take care and stay well.
That Lemon Drizzle cake sounds good! Thanks for hosting! I brought by some Roasted Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette. Hope you enjoy. 🙂
Thank you, CJ! Love your Roasted Strawberry Vinaigrette – it looks so good! I retweeted it this morning. Take care and stay well 🙂
Thank you for hosting! Sounds like you commemorated the day thoughtfully! Have a wonderful week.
Thank you, Suzan. I hope your week is wonderful too!
Hi, April!
I keep hearing reports from the UK that you are experiencing some alarming effects from the coronavirus.
Trust that you are staying healthy and hopeful!
Hi Michele, Thank you so much for your concern, my friend. I am grateful our area has not been as badly affected as some. My family and I are well and only actually know of two people (family and friends of friends) who have sadly died. We have had over 30,000 deaths in the UK, but I think it is because there are 60 million of us on a very small island. Thank God the death rate is falling and they are talking about relaxing some of the restrictions, but we are going very carefully as we don’t want a second wave. I am hopeful and optimistic though. Take care and stay well!
I am glad you are doing well! We’re continuing safe at home as well. Some businesses are opening back up, but we’re still staying home as much as possible. We had a lovely Mother’s Day cookout in the back yard yesterday, where we could spread out and still visit in person.
I’m so glad you had a lovely day, Barbara! I hope that we will soon be allowed to socially distance and visit in person, but in the meantime I’m so grateful for technology and virtual get togethers 🙂 It frustrates me that they allowed street parties (socially distanced) for VE Day but we weren’t allowed to have family come from any distance away and socially distance in the garden. I look forward to the day I can see our son and his partner in real life – I’ll have to wait quite some time for a hug I think, but just to see them would be wonderful. Take care and stay well.
Thanks for hosting the party and I hope you have a nice week April.
Thank you for visiting, Julie. Stay safe and well.
Hello April, thanks for hosting and sharing such great links! Have a great week ahead.
I hope you have a lovely week too, Melynda. Stay safe and well.
Hi April,
Looks like everyone is making the best of how we are required to live today. We had a very peaceful day really took a day off, it was really nice. Hope you and your family are staying healthy and thanks so much for the party today!
Miz Helen
I’m glad you had a relaxing, peaceful day, Miz Helen. Hope you and Leonard are doing well. Thank you so much for visiting and sharing. Take care and stay well!
April, I’m glad to hear you are staying home and staying safe, just as we are. I fear many people are succumbing to Quarantine Fatigue and getting out and about too soon. Your lemon drizzle cake is lovely and I’m sure your neighbors were thrilled! Thank you for hosting.
Thank you so much for visiting and sharing, Jean! I so appreciate your support. Definitely staying in and staying safe here 🙂 Take care and stay well!
That’s beautiful that you had a holiday to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day. An online party sounds wonderful. As does Lemon Drizzle Cake. I have a fresh strawberry pie in my refrigerator right now calling my name. 🙂
I haven’t had strawberry pie in years, Lisa. I need to fix that! Thank you so much for visiting and sharing 🙂
My son and I do eat meat but we try to incorporate at least a couple of vegetarian meals a week. I’m always looking to replace the meat meals with vegetarian ones where possible.
That sounds very similar to what we do as well 🙂 Take care and stay well!
Thank you for hosting! This is what I featured the week of 5-4 to 5-8 on my blog. On Tuesday were. Wednesday was Thursday was . And winding up this Week of Homemade Staples is Homemade Confectioners Sugar. Enjoy!
Thank you for visiting and sharing, Marilyn!
Happy Mother’s Day to you and it is great that you paid tribute to our fallen heroes. Thanks for hosting and I hope that you have a wonderful week. Stay safe and healthy.
Thank you so much, Patrick! Stay safe and healthy, and I hope you have a wonderful week as well.
Thank you, as always, for hosting.
It’s a pleasure, Lauren! Take care.
Thank you so much for hosting! This week I am excited to share my plan for the one room challenge, some inspirational printables, and my may tablescape! Hope you have a wonderful day and are staying safe and healthy!
Thank you for visiting and sharing, Kristin. I hope you are staying safe and healthy too! Have a wonderful day 🙂
My husband has been out and about with his job since day 1 (even traveling for road jobs here and there) but thankfully we have been healthy. We have heard of an occasional friend of a friend or distant family member that had it but all were thankfully able to convalesce just fine at home. I had a wonderful mother’s day and since my boys all ordered my gifts online they’ve been trickling in slowly all week and it’s like a mini celebration each day!
I’m so glad you and your husband are well, Joanne. That must have been challenging/worrying with your husband having to travel.I’m so glad you have managed to stay well. And what a lovely way to celebrate Mother’s Day. I like it when celebrations continue over a period of a few days 🙂 Take care and have a lovely rest of the week!
April,
Loving your link party. Thanks for giving us a much needed distraction. I’ve recently joined a fun group link party as well. If you would like to share with us we would be thrilled. It’s Charming Homes & Garden Link Party and we post our features on Wednesday each week.
Thanks,
Rachel
Thank you, Rachel, and thank you for the invitation as well! Hope to pop over in a bit! Take care and stay safe and well.