My body has no idea what time it is. It's completely confused. I slept all night last night -- in fact I went to bed at about 10 p.m. and was unconscious until 8 a.m. this morning, so it was a long, thorough sleep. Hopefully that will help get me back on track.
I spent yesterday putting the house in order in minor ways. This place was like a meat locker when we walked in, because of course we'd turned off the heat during our absence. It took a full day of running the boiler to get the flat up to a livable temperature. Now we've put the heater back on its regular timer and things are more comfortable.
Out in the garden there's clumpy frost stuck to everything. I brought in the geraniums last night and I'll get the mandarin orange tree in today, as well as covering the avocado. I swear that avocado is taller than it was when we left. Is it continuing to grow in December's wintry chill?
The hellebores are fine with the cold...
...as are the daffodils, already sending up buds.
The snowdrops (foreground) are just starting to appear, and the snowflakes (Leucojum) have already come up tall and green, even though they bloom after the snowdrops.
As for the indoor plants, I watered everything yesterday and it looks like they all survived our absence just fine -- even the recovering maidenhair fern.
I can't believe we have to go back to work on Monday. It's surreal to think about.
Welcome home.
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly a lot chillier than Florida!
When we go away during winter we leave the heating on a very low setting to prevent the house getting too cold, and avoid frozen pipes. It is more welcoming than coming home to a house that feels like a fridge!
Yeah, maybe we should do that. It's usually too warm here for pipes to freeze -- at least indoor pipes -- but the fridge-like house is unpleasant.
DeleteIs that a frozen fox turd in the second picture? Not what I wish to see when eating my breakfast porridge.
ReplyDeleteFortunately for you, you're seeing a fox turd only in your mind!
DeleteGlad you’re home and you had a good night’s sleep. Hope jet lag doesn’t do too much of a number on you in the coming days. Sorry about work. But, just think, this is the last January you’ll have to go back to that particular library.
ReplyDeleteYes, and what an amazing thought THAT is!
DeleteCodex: Curious why you turn it off rather than leave it low. Always found jetlag worse going east.
ReplyDeleteJetlag is definitely worse going east. I didn't expect it to be this cold when we returned -- had I known I might have left the heat on a minimal amount.
DeleteI was surprised you turned the heat off entirely. I'd fear frozen pipes, but you evidently escaped that. Spring flowers coming up already? Wow, London is a mild climate, or maybe cities tend to retain heat. If either of my snowdrops comes up it will be weeks yet!
ReplyDeleteIt's not cold enough here for pipes to freeze. At least, I've never known it to happen.
DeleteWelcome home, you walked straight back into the cold snap we've been promised for a while. I'm glad you managed to sort your plants out before the frost really hit. You have no idea what time it is, we have no idea what day it is, so welcome back to the holiday mystery time club too. :-)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm having trouble with days as well!
DeleteReturning to a freezing flat does not sound very welcoming. When I‘m away in winter, even just for the weekend or, like now, for four or five days, I leave the heating running on low but never turn it off entirely; it costs so much more energy to get a place back to acceptable (let alone comfortable) temperatures after it has cooled out completely.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it is good to know all your plants have survived. Going back to work on Monday does indeed feel strange, but it is also quite welcome (to me); much as I love and need the break over Christmas and New Year, I also like my regular daily life, and it will be good to return to it.
That's a good point about it costing more to bring the flat up to temperature. I hadn't really thought of that. It's always good to get back to routines after a break!
DeleteI'm shocked to see daffodils. I hope they make it as you get that cold snap. Glad you got the others in. I am so confused -- It seems like Saturday and I thought I'd missed a Friday phone call. Whew. I need a routine and these holidays threw it completely off! Welcome home!
ReplyDeleteIn my experience, daffodils aren't bothered by freezing temperatures at all. Ours often get snowed on and they just keep on coming.
DeleteWelcome home. I can't believe you have daffodils sending up buds already. Yours always bloom before mine but not in January. I believe I'd have set the thermostat for 60 instead of turning the heat off altogether.
ReplyDeleteI've seen daffodil flowers in late January in years past!
DeleteOur bodies are simply not meant to hurtle through space and time the way we expect them to. Poor things. Our brains aren't either, come to think of it. Be patient with yourself.
ReplyDeleteI still haven't unwrapped my plants yet. Today. I will do that today! And I don't even think it froze enough here to hurt anything. The potatoes growing in the compost look fine.
Yes, traveling like we do nowadays is a very unnatural experience. We have icicles here!
DeleteYou're right about going back to work. It always seemed like a long time ago
ReplyDeleteIt's weird how just a few weeks off can seem like such a long time.
DeleteI'm right there with you on that 'work on Monday' thought. I'm not looking forward to it.
ReplyDeleteIt seems a bit early for the daffodils to be popping up so tall. I thought they waiting until February. They will be a welcome sight when they open up.
Ours usually bloom in February but it's not unusual for them to show their heads a month earlier. They will be welcome, indeed!
DeleteYour garden looks very frosty, and the daffs are remarkable growing and showing buds despite the cold. Like magic, Hellebores seem to survive even in the cold with a light snow/ice cover. Your white flowers are lovely.
ReplyDeleteJet lag takes time to recover and reset the internal clock. I've often felt, I needed a vacation to recover from my vacation.
"They" always say a day of recovery time is needed for every hour of time change -- in our case, five hours!
DeleteI imagine the sleep felt good after a long flight!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe the daffodils are coming up! I need to check our yard because around here they do mean spring!
It DID feel good. I was so tired on Thursday I could barely keep my eyes open.
DeleteI struggle to keep track of what day of the week it is when Christmas and the New Year are in the middle of the week. What is that in the frosty grass?
ReplyDeleteJust a dead leaf. Nothing exciting! (And certainly not a "fox turd," as suggested above.)
DeleteWelcome back.
ReplyDeleteI do like to see hellebores and yes, the daffodils are doing well aren't they!
Wishing you a restful weekend.
All the best Jan
Thanks, Jan! Rest is needed!
DeleteCold or not, nice to be back home. Maybe not so nice to go to work. My sister and her family arrived home from Edinburgh this morning. They will glad of the warmth here.
ReplyDeleteYeah, what a big change, from wintry Edinburgh to summery Australia!
DeleteWork on Monday? I vote for a mental health day.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Ha! I am essentially taking one. It's a professional development day but I haven't signed up for any workshops. I'm just going to work on shelf-tidying in the library.
DeleteMy goodness, daffs already?? I guess I should check my tulips too to see if they're coming up. My heat pump would take weeks to come back to temperature; I would have to turn on emergency power (furnace) and even then, it's slower than what I was used to with my old furnace. Still, it's a money saver and wonderful to stay cool in the summer. Going to bed and getting up at a normal time is a great sign.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen our tulips yet. They are still sleeping snugly in the ground.
DeleteThe frost on the grass is pretty. I think I'm going to forget about hellebores, I never remember to buy them and the snails and other critters are a problem.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they may not be the best flower for you where you are! (Just as wattles would not do well for me. :) )
DeleteAs someone grappling with Winter, the notion of buds coming up is currently mind-blowing. Jealous.
ReplyDeleteOur winter is nothing like yours. We get some cold days but overall things stay pretty mild.
DeleteHappy New Year, nothing better than "home".
ReplyDeleteThank you, Beatriz!
Delete