Sunny and Bright

Yesterday's temperature got up to almost 60º F (or 16º C), and it was bright and sunny all day. It was a day of seasonal firsts -- the first time I walked the dog without a jacket, the first time I wore shorts, the first time I sat out in the garden and read. Olga spent most of the day on her bed in the sun.

I pulled the dahlias out of the shed and though they're not showing any signs of life yet, they're at least outside now, where they can get some sun and moisture. It's still a bit early for them, but we appear to be past any frost danger, at least for the next few weeks. Nighttime temperatures aren't supposed to drop below the low 40s F for the foreseeable future.

The insects are coming back out, too. Can you see the large hoverfly (or a fly of some kind) on the end of this rose branch?

Here are a couple more flies artfully posed on this rose.

Insects are a marvel, aren't they? It's amazing how they vanish in the winter months and then magically reappear again. Where have they been all this time? I suppose many are just being "born," coming out of a pupal state or something like that, but some insects hide out and survive the winter.

Here's a new type of daffodil -- for us, anyway.  A few weeks ago I rescued a handful of bulbs from a neighbor's yard waste bag, and planted them in a pot on our patio. Several are tulips, and I'm not sure we'll get flowers from them this year because they've been traumatized, but this daffodil cranked out a flower with no apparent hesitation.

In other plant news, the Russians threw away a jasmine plant -- Mrs. Russia said she "had an extra one" (whatever that means) and they put it out on the street in a plastic bag. So of course we adopted it. I planted it in a big pot and I have no idea where we're going to put it. Don't I keep saying I want fewer potted plants? But I couldn't just let it go to the landfill.

I am still without a bank card, and since it's Easter weekend it looks like I'll be without one until well into next week. I tried to call the bank yesterday but of course it was closed, and I'm unable to order one online (probably because I already did so fairly recently).

Also, the downspout/drainage man once again didn't turn up last Thursday morning. I waited an hour and a half, and then called the plumbing people. Where was the engineer?

"Oh, he has a call in NW10, and then he has a couple of other calls and then he'll get to you," the woman on the phone said.

I pointed out that they said I'd be the first call of the day, given that he didn't show up a few days earlier either.

"Well, I'm not sure who told you that, because we don't usually say that," the woman said. I told her I had to go to work and asked to reschedule the job for this week, when I'll be home on Spring Break. We settled on Wednesday.

"OK," she said. "And I'll put you first on the list!"

I am not kidding.