Friday 18 April 2014

Happy Easter!

Not long ago, I told you about the Easter egg tree in the palace grounds here, where the aim was to have 10.000 eggs on the tree in time for Easter.

Well, that aim was reached - and nearly doubled! Our local paper had an article about it yesterday. There are now 17.210 eggs on the tree, all real eggs, all hand-painted or otherwise decorated by their donors. Since the organizers had promised 50 Cents to charity for each egg, quite a nice little sum has been given to two local charities.

But that is not all. There was also a competition as to who (individual, group, school, company...) would be contributing the most eggs. A small local school with only 110 students won the prize of 1.000 Euros - 3.585 eggs came from them alone! Since nothing was allowed to go to waste in the process of preparing the eggs, they have now in the freezer of their school kitchen a large provision of food made from the eggs' contents.

The paper published two photos on its website, one with the winners and some officials (which would be very boring for you), and this one, which shows how thickly clustered the eggs had to be hung in order for the tree to hold them all.

I hope the charities put the money they were given to good use; it won't reach very far, but I guess "every little helps", as they say.

Speaking of charity, maybe you remember that I mentioned before (for instance, in this post that my Dad regularly works at a charity shop. That is where my Mum's hand-knitted socks are going to these days. Her Etsy shop, through which she sold socks to dear and loyal customers from nearly all over the world, has been going from quiet to silent, and on her request, I have taken it off my blog's side bar now. Instead of rather less than more successfully trying to sell the socks, she now gives my Dad a few items every time he goes to work at the shop, and the money then goes to the charity running the shop.

No matter whether you celebrate Easter for religious reasons or simply enjoy a long weekend off, maybe spending it with family and friends, or just getting some well-deserved rest, Happy Easter to all of you!

22 comments:

  1. What a wonderful idea, and it is great that charities are benefitting from it.

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    1. I'm glad they have not just made an event for the benefit of the park out of this.

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  2. The eggs are rather amazing, and I was glad to hear the school did not waste the food value of them! I wonder what will happen with this idea in years to come...........I am rather sad that your mother is not going to be selling her socks anymore! Would she ever think of selling them to old customers and giving the money to charity? I liked her socks best of all! Please tell her! I'm wearing a pair in very Easter-like colors right now.
    And I wish you and all your family and friends a very happy Easter holiday.

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    1. My Mum has asked me to tell you (and everybody else who wants to know) that she will still gladly be knitting socks made to order. You can state colour, size and style, and she will take about 10 days to make them, not counting delivery time. I believe you have her email address; otherwise, she can still be contacted via her Etsy shop, or simply leave a message here on my blog or send me an email, whichever is most convenient.
      So nice to know that you were wearing a pair while you were writing your comment!
      Happy Easter to you and your lovely family, too!

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  3. Over 3,500 eggs from only 110 students! That's dedication!

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    1. They probably weren't doing anything else at school for weeks :-)

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  4. This is such a wonderful story!

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    1. It was something positive in the local paper, for a change!

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  5. That's a wonderful story, glad that the money collected is going to charity and also glad that they didn't waste any food!. It is also wonderful that your Mom donates her beautifully crafted socks to the charity shop where your Dad works, God bless them both! And you too!
    Happy Easter!

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    1. My Mum will still make socks to order, she asked me to explain. So, if you need a present or want some for yourself, all she needs to know is size, colour and style. It will take about 10 days to make them, plus delivery time.

      Happy Easter to you and yours, too, dear Kay!

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  6. I don't understand how the winning school was able to gather the contents of all those eggs without breaking them. Did the cook put a pinhole in each egg and suck out the whites and yolks? Otherwise, a heart-warming story. Happy Easter to you too!

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    1. That's nearly how it is done, YP, only that instead of sucking out the contents, they are blown out. You need a good set of lungs for that! We used to decorate Easter eggs with my Mum when we were little, but I never managed to blow one clean.

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  7. Happy Easter to you and your family,
    I do enjoy your mother's socks and I wonder if its the weather? I have been wearing thinner, store bought socks for weeks and weeks, and now its getting to sandal weather over here. That and taxes in U.S. anyway, they were just due and many are cutting way back to pay the taxman` alas.
    Hope you and yours have a lovely day; the eggs are such a symbol and what a great feat for your town.
    Best
    julie

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    1. Thank you, Julie, and the same to you and yours!
      It's too warm here now for the woolly socks, too, but I still wear them instead of slippers at home, it still tends to feel chilly on the floor mornings and evenings.

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  8. That's wonderful! What a lovely idea.

    Hope you and your family and friends will have a happy Easter, Meike. xoxox

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    1. Thank you, Carol, I hope the same for you and your loved ones as well.

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  9. Wow, that was some egg feast! What a lovely idea and so pleased that your mum is able to find an outlet for her socks through your dad in his charity shop.

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    1. Quite impressive, isn't it! We stayed well away from the park over the Easter holidays, though, since it is probably very crowded there, and we can go any time.

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  10. I'm astonished and really overwhelmed by the egg story. It seems to me to be a magnificent achievement.

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    1. When I first heard that they were aiming for 10.000 eggs and I had seen the tree, I never thought it was possible, but now they have nearly doubled it. That really is quite astonishing.

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  11. Wow, what an achievement. Actually in conversation about Easter traditions with my brother this weekend, I mentioned your tree and was curious whether they'd reached the 10.000! (I didn't read this post until today)

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    1. Well, now you know :-)
      It is nice to hear that something you read on my blog comes up in conversation, too.
      And while this achievement was not at all mine, your Easter weekend was full of achievements and accomplishments!

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