Signs of Spring

OK, it's a bit early to be talking about spring, especially with the USA buried under snow and at least another month of winter ahead of us. Here in London we've had some of our heaviest snowfalls in late February and early March. But the sun was bright yesterday, and this little robin was sitting in the Philadelphus outside the back door singing its heart out, and it reminded me that this interminable winter will indeed come to an end.

Just like the interminable administration of Donald Trump will come to an end. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

 I think I solved the Alhambra problem, in a completely unimaginative way. I got online and Googled "How to get tickets to the Alhambra when they're sold out." And several private tour companies popped up offering tickets at a slight premium. I guess they must buy blocks of tickets and then sell them to tourists. Anyway, I reserved two and they've been confirmed so if all goes well, we'll get to visit after all. I'm a bit wary because reviews for this company are mixed and some people say their tickets only came through at the last minute or not at all. But I'm hoping for the best, and if not, we'll find other things to do in Granada.

I realize it's incredibly shallow of me to write about problems like this when the USA is in such turmoil. But I don't see how I can help the situation by going off about how repulsive it is to watch federal agents shoot innocent Americans in the street. All I can do from this distance is help elect more opposition to contain that lunatic as much as possible until his term is up. (OK, I had more to say, but I really am stopping now.)

I spotted our first daffodil yesterday! This is usually when we start seeing them -- end of January or so. Dave and I had his co-worker Lorraine and her boyfriend over for dinner last night, so I cut the daffodil and made it our centerpiece. Dave made parsnip and leek soup, beef stroganoff with broccoli on the side, and lemon posset for dessert. He served the posset with a store-bought blueberry tart. I teased him for serving two desserts, and when he brought them out, Lorraine said, "Two desserts!" But Dave insisted that it was one dessert in two dishes, because the tastes went well together. OK then.

We walked up to Leyland (a home improvements store) yesterday morning to get paint samples to make some choices about the redecorating. Unfortunately we are not in agreement about the options. For the living room I want something very similar to what we already have -- neutral beige. Dave wants very light blue or light green, but I think that's going to be too much blue/green, considering that our sofa is blue and our rug is green and all the paint in the hallway is celadon. In the bedroom, I'd like a dark gray-blue, but not too dark -- and the one Dave wants is, to my mind, too dark and too purple. So we still have to sort this out.

I also downloaded the garden cam yesterday, with results above. We see several of our neighborhood cats -- Blackie, Pale Cat and Tabby -- as well as at least three foxes. I don't believe any of the foxes are Q-Tip, unless he/she is the fox whose poor tail has been stripped at the end, but honestly I have trouble telling them all apart. We see one of the foxes bed down several times behind the hazel tree, where it seems quite comfy. I moved the garden cam so that it has a more direct view of that spot -- I'd like to get some clearer footage of it nesting back there. Hopefully repositioning the camera won't scare the fox away.