Busy Sunday With Lava Lamp

The red hellebores are opening up, looking fresh and bright as a spring day. (I'm thinking ahead!) These are the same flowers that months from now will fade and darken and draw a collection of aphids. It's hard to believe that's even the same plant, isn't it?

The white ones are looking good, too.

I had a busy day yesterday, considering I barely left the house. I finished my book about the Lusitania, which was very good, particularly the account of the sinking itself. I didn't realize that the ship sank in only 18 minutes! I always thought a shipwreck was a protracted affair, like the Titanic, which stayed afloat for almost three hours -- but I guess a torpedo is different from an iceberg. Imagine being a finely dressed cruise passenger, having a fancy lunch, strolling the deck, and 20 minutes later you're floating around in the ocean in a sea of wreckage. (If you're lucky.)

I also planned our trip for February break. Dave and I are going back to Spain -- this time to Málaga, Córdoba, and Granada. We plan to visit the famous Mitchell and San Geraldo, as well as take in such sights as the Alhambra and the Picasso museum. I went to Granada many years ago, in 1994, but I only dimly remember it, and I've never been to the other two cities. Dave hasn't seen any of them. So we're looking forward to that! I booked our flight and our hotels, with two nights in each place.

Saturday self-portrait in a pub hand dryer!

I finally got our lava lamp working -- sort of. I thought the bulb had burned out, so last weekend I took it to our local hardware shop and we put another bulb in it -- and nothing. Dead as a doornail. So I left it for the hardware guys to repair, which they offered to do for £30. (Yes, I realize I could have bought a new lava lamp for probably less than that, but it's the principle of the thing. I don't want to throw this one in a landfill.) I picked it up on Saturday with new wiring and yesterday bought a new bulb, and it now works -- but the bulb is five watts stronger than is recommended for the lamp, which means it gets just a bit too hot, and all the wax tends to linger at the top of the cylinder. I suppose I need to get on Amazon and order a proper bulb.

This is a lot of trouble for a lava lamp.

Finally, the tree guy came last evening to look at our fallen branch so he can give an estimate to the landlords for removing it. He said he'd give three estimates -- one just for the fallen part, one for the entire tree and one for tidying that whole area in the back of the garden. I'm guessing the landlords will go for the first option, but that's fine with me.