Thereâs a popular garden centre near here where what plants you get is decided at random. Itâs called Taking Pot Luck.
Personal Blogs
Iâve been fretting about a poem with this title for years and maybe coming close
When the Angel of Death arrived,
It was a Hummingbird at my ear.
I was astonished, and said, I thought youâd have strong wings, to carry me.
No no it replied, I am here to enchant and to guide,
Your wings alone shall bear you up,
 Let me help you emerge.
My grandson writes:
I have cat-like reflexes. Whenever I see a cat I instantly like it.
These cherry trees stand at the front of my house.
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.Â
A rose is a rose is a rose.
They are not long, the days of wine and roses.
He who wants a rose must respect the thorn.
Itâs the time that you spent on your rose that makes your rose so important.
Laurel. Very Hardy.
resonance, n.
Ants trapped in amber.
Our garden has a small patch of woodland, with thriving trees but the ground level plants are limited, apart from snowdrops and celandines.
So we've started working on widening the number of species, beginning with some ferns. We have acquired five kinds, three native to this country, one from China I think, and one from New Zealand. Some are deciduous so their foliage dies back in autumn, others retain their leaves throughout the seasons.
Ferns tend to like shade, but in varying degrees, so we've been trying to match their position carefully to their preferences. Not sure we have it right, it's a difficult judgement, but they can be moved later if necessary.
Not all in the ground yet, but the photo gives an idea of what we are aiming at.
I was planning to mail you
Some salad but I
Couldn't post the lettuce.
Why did Santa get priority for his vaccination? Because of his underlying elf issues!
Q. Why did J. Caesar cross the Rubicon?
A. To get to the other side.
What a marvellous beginning this sonnet has:
Q. Where did the Golden Fleece come from.
A. Gold baaas!
From my gate I can see this verge with its striking patches of spring flowers.
There are daisies (the Dayâs Eye in Old English, because the flowers close at sunset and open at dawn); middle left, red dead-nettles (the botanical name Lamium purpureum more accurate about the colour); and celandines.
The name celandine is very poetic: Ancient Greek and Latin writers held that it flowered as the the swallows came in spring, and it was called ĎξΝΚδĎνΚον, â that of the swallowâ.
From the OED:
1578    H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball  i. xx. 32  The small Celandyne was so called, bycause that it beginneth to spring and to floure, at the comming of the Swallowes.
Today a pheasant visited my garden.
I caught a glimpse a day or so back, but today she was there for a while and I was able to get this snap.
From my Grandson:
I can't take my dog to the park anymore, the ducks keep biting him. Should have know this was going to happen, he's pure bread.
More than 35 million UK jabs, what a vaxxy nation!
Not many people know this but I was for a short time in the Japanese police force. An unusual incident that sticks in my mind is interviewing a martial arts expert about his unruly cat. I had to see a Dan about a mog.
You said I had no soul.
But I do.
Just differently.
Here you see my Shopska Salad, tonightâs supper.
One of my top favourite starters. (Really there should be some grated cheese on top, but I didnât have any suitable, and it was fine without.)
I was taught how to make it in Northern Greece, by friends whose parents or grandparents were ethnic Greeks who moved to Greece from Bulgaria in the mass exchange of populations after WW1. I also met the dish in Bulgaria.
From this I assumed it was a) Bulgarian and b) traditional.
Turns out the answer to a) is Yes but as for b) not really; according to Wikipedia it was invented in 1955 by the Bulgarian state tourism association. Itâs been a runaway success though. Give it a try. I always put a bit of chilli pepper in mine as well as the other vegetables, but that is probably unusual.
Because I have ankle arthritis âI have of late, forgone all custom of exercisesâ, as Hamlet says. But this is a bad habit and I realised my circulation was suffering.
So I searched online for exercises that could be done sitting or with the support of a chair back. There are a lot of good videos and for about three weeks now Iâve been doing some of the exercises.
And itâs had an effect! I can now stand on tiptoe, without the support of a chair back. Not very high or for very long, but I can do it. I couldnât before. One tall step.
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