Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Scrambled or Fried


Another orchid is now blooming -- the "Golden Leopard" variety. We've had this one several years and it's very productive.

I finally finished my latest Newbery book, "The Bronze Bow," yesterday. I've been carrying it around for at least a week and a half. I have a bit of Newbery fatigue, I must say, but I checked out another stack to plow through over Spring Break, which begins Friday. I'm hoping with a week of spare time I'll be able to put a dent in the remaining books. "The Bronze Bow" takes place in Galilee at the time of Jesus, and in fact Jesus is a character. The story is good, and its Biblical references more historic than proselytizing, but its Christian perspective seems to somewhat limit its appeal. I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable recommending it to a student, unless I knew them well and knew they'd be cool with that content.


We have a second crop of daffodils coming in -- these are the white and butter-yellow triple variety that we planted in 2014 right after we moved in, when we redid the garden. Actually, the guy we hired to help with the garden planted them. He just showed up with a big bag of bulbs, and this is what emerged! They're fine, though I prefer the simple yellow blossoms as a rule.


We also discovered this unusual daffodil in our flower bed this year. I have no idea where it came from. I don't remember seeing it before, but we haven't planted any since that first batch, so it must have been here all along and I just never noticed. If the triples look like scrambled eggs, as I believe they do, then this one is sunny side up!

37 comments:

  1. Daffodils make me smile, even though I, too, prefer the traditional yellow. Do you feed your orchids throughout the year?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have some orchid food but I rarely use it. They really don't seem to need much feeding.

      Delete
    2. Thanks for that. I'll just water and take my chances. In Santa Barbara, I had several orchids. I fed for green; I fed for flowers. I got nothing! Maybe it just wasn't the right spot for them. Meanwhile, at that same time, I had an orchid in my office -- no windows, no natural light, no orchid food. It bloomed constantly.

      Delete
  2. When you say that Jesus is a "character" do you mean that he is a person in the story or someone with idiosyncratic appeal like a jovial old soldier or a glassy-eyed drunkard?

    ReplyDelete
  3. What A Remarkably Healthy Orchid There My Man - Looking Forward To The Rest Of The Blooming Backyard Photos - Spring Is In The Air For Sure - Well, Not Here Anyway, Its Currently 24F - Olga Girl Would Demand Another Blanket - And A Biscuit Of Course

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We're supposed to go below freezing in a couple of nights. I am NOT happy about it.

      Delete
  4. I like the the last daffs. I have a vague memory of them being called egg and bacon but really it should be egg yolk and white.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Pretty daffs! I like them all & would love a bunch of different varieties in our yard (she says about every flower ever...).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I really like daffodils, and the best thing about them is they're super hardy. Squirrels don't eat them!

      Delete
  6. When I saw those last daffodils I immediately thought of my hen's eggs- that orange center, surrounded by the white.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Funny how our brains immediately go to a familiar image when we see something with a similar pattern!

      Delete
  7. I love the daffodils.We have them all over the backyardand it'salways the first signof Spring when they pop up and bloom again.
    Makes me smile.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love how low-maintenance they are. They just do their thing with no interference from me.

      Delete
  8. I love daffodil season, and those sunny side ups are beautiful. Nice to see that orchid blooming too.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love the daffodils. All of them. They are so cheerful. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Gorgeous flowers today...even the scrambled egg ones.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, not my favorites, but better than nothing!

      Delete
  11. I've always been suspicious of daffodils since I watched a bunch of them sing to me in a taunting manner, but then again, I WAS high...I love the butter-yellow ones. They look like a type of rose -- I didn't know daffodils could be so delicate like that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha! Sounds like a scene from "Fantasia" or "Alice in Wonderland."

      Delete
  12. My daffodils are looking so lovely right now and I am tempted to cut a few to bring in but then I think they will die sooner so I leave them outside. At least I can see them through my kitchen window.
    You have so many lovely varieties!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The blossoms DO die sooner indoors, no question. I don't cut them, but the dog breaks off enough that we always have some on our windowsill.

      Delete
  13. All right, the flowers are all beauties but what I want to know is what that tiny man is doing standing next to them in the second picture and who IS he? I had to crop the photo way down to determine that it wasn't Hitler.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I see even you are under the spell of "Godwin's Law".

      For the uninitiated: Godwin's Law, the theory that as an online discussion progresses, it becomes inevitable that someone or something will eventually be compared to Adolf Hitler or the Nazis, regardless of the original topic.

      Kiss, kiss,
      U

      Delete
    2. Oh, Lord, no, that's not Hitler! I think it's a Disney prince. More about him (and better pictures) here:
      https://shadowsteve.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-prince-and-snail.html

      I wonder who Godwin was, Ursula? I'll have to look it up!

      Delete
    3. Mike Goldwin, an American lawyer and author

      en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law

      Makes interesting reading

      U

      Delete
  14. Lovely flowers for me to enjoy this morning. Thank you:)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I grew up and live in a place that is famed for daffodils, but they've never been my favorite, probably because I'm not a huge fan of yellow. However, those triples are nice. I'm definitely on Team Tulip though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I prefer tulips visually, but they're more temperamental and the slugs and snails like to eat them. Daffodils are so effortless!

      Delete
  16. there's only one daffodil, the King Alfred, that naturalizes down here. I think. most bulbs need more cold than we get like tulips which have to be planted fresh every year if you want them. I don't like tulips that much. and I prefer native perennials for the most part.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, it's hard to grow bulbs in the South. We could never grow them in Florida. I don't think we even tried.

      Delete
  17. I love the small native wild daffodil..hardy, and not too smelly!
    (I may be biased...spent my time at the till in the St.Ffagan museum shop trying to work with blurry eyes and runny nose!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's nothing worse than overpowering scents, whether from flowers or perfume or anything else!

      Delete