Saturday again! The weeks are flying by which is odd because life is one long cycle of work, walk, Netflix, crochet and sleep at the moment – you’d think time would be dragging. Some positive news this week – over eleven million vaccinated but also, slightly concerning news that the South African variant has been found not a million miles away from home! Eek!
Moving swiftly on and pretending the bad stuff isn’t happening, and we find ourselves amongst Snowdrops! Hubby had to have a root canal filling on Thursday (considered setting up a crowd funding page – how can it cost so much to have pain inflicted upon oneself?!) and while I was waiting for him I decided to go for a walk and I found a lovely little park that I had no idea even existed. It had a couple of lakes, lots of ducks, geese and swans and millions of Snowdrops. Snowdrops are so pretty and delicate, but I don’t find them all that cheery because, to me, they symbolise Winter not Spring, the end of Winter maybe, but still Winter.

Now Daffs, on the other hand, are definitely cheery because they do offer me hope that Spring is on the way, bringing us warmer days and, most importantly, heralding the advent of Summer. Oh Summer how I do miss thee! Sadly, my Daffodil blooms are still a little way off bursting their bright yellow cheeriness out into the world, but they’re getting there and it surely won’t be too long till I look out of the kitchen window to see a pop of colour. Can’t wait!

Also looking good is my Rhododendron which was new to the garden during lockdown last year. I shared it in my final Six of 2020 and the buds are much bigger now. It’s been covered in snow and frost for much of the time in between its two starring roles, so I hope that hasn’t set it back. Time will tell.

Hubby’s at work today (hooray – finally he got some work again!) so I did my good deed for the day and got up early to drop him off and then decided to make the most of being up and about and took myself off for a walk in Sutton Park before the crowds descend. It was delicious me time, so rare at the moment for those of us who co-habit (the opposite being true for those who live alone). I wandered along the paths, listening to my audiobook and actually looked at my surroundings, which I tend not to do when I’m there with someone else chatting away. It was a very misty morning and the landscape looked quite stark – can’t you just imagine Heathcliff smouldering away somewhere amongst those trees?

Back home, and I popped straight out to the garden to complete my Six photos for today before I came to warm my bones next to a radiator.

This Clematis is acclimatising in the greenhouse at the moment. It arrived this week from Thompson and Morgan. I only went to their website to order raspberry canes because my Aunt told me now is a good time to plant them, but I ended up pre-ordering Begonias which will be despatched in May and a Sarcococca plant which my Aunt recommended for the scent, as well as the raspberry canes. Then this Clematis popped up as a special offer so it fell into my basket! I know exactly where I’m going to plant it once it’s warm enough. It’s Clematis Advent Bells which is, as the name suggests, winter flowering so hopefully next year we’ll have a bit of prettiness in the garden at Christmas. The raspberry canes have been delayed so I won’t get them till the end of February – hopefully they’ll still thrive, but I guess I probably won’t get fruit this Summer.
Finally as I was heading back inside I noticed the beautiful colour of one of my Hebes. I purposely planted this Hebe close to the house so that we could see some colour from our kitchen windows in the Winter.I don’t know what kind of Hebe it is because it came in a mixed pack of four just labelled Hebe variety pack (or some such generalisation). I don’t ‘do’ pink unless it’s really bright – can’t abide baby pink – but this is a gorgeously bright pop of colour to cheer even the dullest of days.

There we go, Six completed, so that’s one thing ticked off my to do list for today. What next? Clear some space for my newly completed Lego Diagon Alley? Watch episode three of Bridgerton? Clean the bathroom? While I ponder that, why don’t you check out some other Sixes at the Propagator’s blog?