We're going through a dry spell here. According to our local weather website, March "came in much drier than the long-term average," with just four days of recordable rain totaling 3.8 mm. That's basically no rain.
This was after a very damp February, though, so all in all we're close to average for the year. Still, we need some rain. I've been watering pots as well as plants in the ground, and Dave and I only belatedly noticed that our poor tree fern was dried out and shriveling. Hopefully we got some water onto it in time to save it.
The good news -- no slugs! Remember how our plants were ravaged by slugs last spring?
We're supposed to get up to 20º C today. Everyone's been talking about this like it's an apocalyptic heat wave, and since I don't really function on the Celsius scale I've been vague about what 20º C actually means. Yesterday at work a few of us were talking about it, and I said, "I think it's uncomfortably warm." One of the cleaners said he thought it meant about 85º F! Finally I hauled out my phone and it turns out we were all incorrect, and 20º C is only 69º F -- actually very pleasant.
Thank God I didn't have to convert Celsius temperatures for the "Life in the UK" test. Remember how I had to take that years ago to get permission to live here indefinitely? I passed with flying colors but I'd have failed for sure if I had to wrangle with math -- ugh.
Our yellow tulips opened yesterday on the patio. I think this is the first year we've had two of them. We have another clump of tulips out in the garden, and our bulldozer of a dog knocked the one flower head off before it fully matured. I have it on the windowsill in a little vase and it seems to be opening there, amazingly.
We were sitting inside yesterday evening at dusk, watching the vintage and very sexist show "Bewitched" on television, when I heard the birds making a real racket outside. My Merlin bird app identified them as a Eurasian blackbird and European robin, and it sounds to me like there are more than one of each. I guess they're getting amorous. You'd have a longer recording if a plane hadn't approached overhead, forcing me to stop it. Urban nature!
Dave and I sat out in the garden earlier in the evening, so don't worry -- we're enjoying our outdoor space too. The only problem is, Olga barks at us incessantly when we're out there. Something about being outside but sitting down (as opposed to playing with her, I suppose) drives her crazy.
(Top photo: A renovation project on my walk to work.)
Yes, Olga is telling she thought you came out to play with her and where is the ball? why aren't you throwing it for her?
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what she thinks. We are only here for her amusement and sustenance.
DeleteBlackbirds have the most beautiful song, but they can also make an awful racket when they are angry about something. And of course we all know what their "cat alarm" sounds like.
ReplyDeleteHere, we have very noisy magpies, and further into town, a large colony of crows are causing real trouble for the people who live and work near the trees they are occupying. It's not only the noise, but also their droppings, obviously. But to get rid of them without killing all of them off is not easy. I have read that the city have now plans to employ a falconer, who can bring in birds of prey. They will of coure kill the odd crow, but mainly the idea is for the other crows to find the area is too unsafe for them and their nestlings, and move the colony elsewhere.
Lovely yellow tulips!!
That will probably work..crows are wise birds with a good memory..and teach their offspring
DeleteThey are among the cleverest of birds, I believe, even able to employ tools such as using a small twig to get at food.
DeleteIn the UK, a hawk has been terrorizing the residents of one small community. It would dive-bomb the heads of the men, particularly taller men, and often draw blood. It was finally captured the other day. I don't think its future is bright.
Delete16C = 61F and and 70F =21C are a couple of easy to remember temp conversions - I still think in F when the weather is hot and C when it's cold - can't remember when the weathermen changed from one to the other, prob in the 1970's
ReplyDeleteFunny that you've developed a hybrid method!
DeleteI have long since forgotten what Fahrenheit temps.relate to in terms of how hot!
ReplyDeleteI am delighted that the slugs/snails are not in evidence this spring, though I too have had to water pots outside.
My new little dog barks a lot outside......he is yapping at the birds in the sky, though what his excuse is when it is dark is anyone's guess! ( he isn't allowed out for long if yapping.....we do have a thought for our neighbours!!)
I have not yet had a dog that's a chronic barker. I'm sure that presents its own challenges! Olga only barks when she wants something and fortunately the duration is usually quite limited -- unless we're sitting in the back garden. :/
DeleteWhen Olga barks out in the garden, Mrs Kravitz, the Sikorskys upstairs and other nearby neighbours will be covering their ears and muttering, "Not that ****ing dog again!"
ReplyDeleteI imagine them saying that all the time. I think Mrs. Kravitz's dog barks more than ours, which is probably a good thing.
DeleteThere seems to be a pattern developing, with a dry spell in Spring...then wet and cold after that just when you need insects out and about to pollinate fruit
ReplyDeleteI remember the spring of 2020 was ridiculously dry, but beautifully cool and sunny.
DeleteWe had a very dry March too, probably getting the same amount of rain as you only in fractions of an inch instead of millimeters!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I grew up without a television, my grandfather had one and whenever I went for a visit, I got a healthy dose of Bewitched reruns (I think they were reruns back then) as well as Golden Girls and Mash. My favorite was the live action version of Batman, I think played by Adam West though I had to sneak watch that when my grandfather wasn't inside the house.
If you were watching "Bewitched" alongside "Golden Girls" and "MASH," they were definitely reruns! "Bewitched" is from the mid-'60s. I used to love that Batman show too! It was the only live-action Batman up to that point, I believe.
DeleteWe do need some rain and I expect we'll get it by the bucketload soon. Easter holidays are a signal for the weather to change.
ReplyDeleteThe yellow tulips are beautiful.
Perhaps we should all take a citizenship test regularly - I'm sure many, many UK-born people would fail. 😎
I often heard that when we were studying for the test. Our UK friends would exclaim about all the weird arcane stuff we had to know!
DeleteI'd happily send you some of the rain from here -- especially the rain in the basement! More is due this weekend, just in time for the big protest rally at the capitol. I still plan to be there unless it's a major dump. If I miss this one, there will be plenty of other opportunities, but this should be a good one. The tulips look great -- we're just starting our daffs. I'm glad you could finally sit outside. (I have trouble with the F/C conversion too.)
ReplyDeleteI hope the rally goes well! Can't wait to hear about it!
DeleteI just had the nice experience of listening to your birds with my own here in the background. Isn't the Merlin app wonderful?
ReplyDeleteI love it. Plus it's fun to share my bird sounds with people on the other side of the planet!
DeleteSome animal ate my only tulip so no flowers only leaves on that one. But I have lots of daffodils blooming and my forsythia looks fabulous. It's chilly but at least we have a bit of sun today until the rain begins later.
ReplyDeleteOlga is the boss of you and Dave, isn't she? ;)
We've had years when slugs have demolished our tulips. Olga is definitely the boss!
DeleteIt's been so windy here, and again today, that sitting outside unless you're in a protected area, is unpleasant after a while. The birds don't seem to mind it though as they are very noisy competing with the wind chimes.
ReplyDeleteI usually like wind, but maybe not monotonously for hours and hours.
DeleteOur birds are singing and procreating too. It is lovely time of the year.
ReplyDeleteYour yellow tulip must be a hybrid. The black center makes a great contrast.
Like Olga, my Caesar walks through and even lays down in my gardens. Everything gets crushed. Disappointing. Sometimes things bounce back. Otherwise, we just wait for next year and new growth.
Dogs do rule, don't they.
We used to try to keep her out of the gardens but I've pretty much given up on it! Now I put stakes next to plants I don't want her to trample and that keeps her off them.
DeleteOur March was dry too! But we had some nice soaking rain the other night. And I don't remember February. Was there weather? Probably. Ha!
ReplyDeleteEvidently not very memorable, at least not to you since you were buried in work!
DeleteDry is relative. We get that dry or drier. Plants adapt to conditions.
ReplyDeleteThey do indeed. And most of our plants are pretty adaptable.
DeleteWe have lots of amorous birds making their bird calls, even with the snow still on the ground. The squirrels are busy too, fighting and mating.
ReplyDeleteCanadians are a mess up lot who talk about temperatures in Celsius, but our height and weight in inches and pounds. Distance is in kilometres but we still use 2x4 boards. We cope:)
Oh, don't even get me started about the complexities of British weight measurement. When people want my weight in stones I am completely flummoxed.
DeleteI love hearing the birds. We are back down in the 60's here again after last week's sudden jump to 99. I always have look up the temperature conversion. I can't seem to do that one in my head.
ReplyDeleteThat was a very weird blip, to be so hot so early in the year! We had that happen a couple of years ago, a day in April that was in the 90's.
DeleteThe blackbird song was the thing I missed most when we lived in the Canary Islands. I just love to hear them now in our garden.
ReplyDeleteYou lived in the Canary Islands?! Do tell!
DeleteMaybe a blog post one day...
DeleteI love the birds chirping in the morning as we have breakfast. it kind of sets the tone for the day.
ReplyDeleteOf course, if they get too loud, it sets the mood as "KILL THOSE BIRDS!"
Ha! I very rarely get that aggravated at the birds, even the squawky parakeets and squabbly starlings.
DeleteI loved watching Bewitched and preferred the Dick York episodes. Thanks for sharing birdsong as well as photos today!
ReplyDeleteYes, Dick Sergeant came along late in the show and he was never as good. It really is astonishing how sexist the shows are, though.
DeleteI’m loving. That recording
ReplyDeleteIt's a great app! You should get it if you're at all interested in birds or bird song.
DeleteI liked the recording too.
ReplyDeleteA slice of London in Arizona!
DeleteI enjoyed those old shows back in the day but I wonder if I would still like them now. Mari scratches on the windows when I'm outside and the sound is extremely grating on the ears! I don't trust her outside though. I used to tell my students that teens require a jacket, 20s are comfortable and 30s are hot. Just as a rule of thumb!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good rule of thumb. I'll have to remember that.
DeleteWe usually start the evening with a retro show before moving on to more modern TV. It's just our pattern. We've watched all of "That Girl," "The Brady Bunch" and "Star Trek," for example. And we've dabbled in "Gilligan's Island," but there's only so much of that a person can take. (Unless they're ten years old.)
I was living in Hong Kong when they converted from F to C. We were told 10 is too cold, 20 is just right and 30 is too hot. I guess it's all relative to what you like.
ReplyDeleteThat's a bit like Margaret's method above. I hope I can remember it!
DeleteI hope the 20C day was good to you :)
ReplyDeleteIt was indeed, though I was inside for a lot of it. :/
DeleteBeautiful post
ReplyDelete