Sunday, February 11, 2018

First Daffodil, and Daffodil Shrapnel


I looked out in the garden yesterday morning and saw a bright spot of yellow -- our first daffodil of the season! How exciting! Winter really is edging into spring. (To paraphrase a George Winston album title.)

But then, to my dismay, I saw...


Those @*&# squirrels!

I gotta let Olga out into the garden more often to keep them at bay. I don't know why they like gnawing on daffodil buds, but they do -- as well as many, many of our other plants. Maybe they're extra-hungry at this time of year. They also ate all the flowers off our snowdrop. (Or maybe it was the pigeons. OK, I didn't see the culprit in action.)


The hellebore is looking pretty amazing. Our next-door neighbor's Polish gardener calls it a "Christmas rose."


And we have a crocus emerging in the bed by the back door. This area has been dug over so much by Dave, I'm thrilled to see there's still a bulb left undisturbed!

We had a quiet, domestic day yesterday. We went to the Bridge Cafe, near the tube station, for breakfast, followed by a wander through our weekly farmer's market. (We both agreed we don't go nearly enough. We bought local pork chops, organic pears and purple broccolini, among other things.)

On the way back home, we passed John selling his used books near the train station. I got an copy of a clever photo book by Slinkachu, an artist who installs tiny figures of people around London, posed in inventive scenarios, and photographs them. And then, motivated to buy books, we went to our local independent bookshop (Yes! We have one!) and picked up a copy of Gabriel Tallent's "My Absolute Darling" and Allen Hollinghurst's "The Sparsholt Affair." So now I'm set for reading material.

It was a very rainy afternoon, so we stayed inside. In bed, in fact. It was fabulous, but I feel like my sleep cycle has been out of whack all week and today I'm looking forward to getting out and doing something active and getting tired!

9 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Have a look at Squirrel Traps UK on Amazon. You can get a decent squirrel trap for around £20. If you manage to trap five or six of the little b*****ds you'll be able to make Dave a nice furry scarf.

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  3. not fair for you to get daffodils before I do. I didn't get a single bloom last year which I assumed was because we had almost no cold weather. and I have to get a hellebore.

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  4. I hope you like My Absolute Darling. You know, I feel certain I've read something by Hollinghurst but I'm not sure.
    So many good authors!
    And I'm with Ellen- I NEED a hellebore! And I'm thinking I may need an afternoon in bed, too. You are such inspiration, Steve!

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  5. Funny - we would plant daffodils because the deer ate all the tulips. The daffodils dwindled, too, though, and now I guess I know why.
    Yep, I'm off for a big walk as soon as I type this last period.

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  6. Those first daffodils always lift the heart into spring. They hold the promise that winter will really, finally end.

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  7. Those pesky squirrels! Your day sounds perfect. I actually thought about going to the Farmer's Market but, didn't make it. I want to make some roasted tomato soup this week so I guess I'll have to use grocery store tomatoes.

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  8. Daffodil shrapnel - there are two words that aren't usually found in each other's company!

    Your spring is far, far, FAR ahead of ours :)

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  9. Do you still have those squirrel feeders?

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