The first flowers are opening on my rosemary – always helpful for early bees and other pollinators.
I did also manage a walk up to the CoOp: given that I’d already done some Green Party printing, that was rather pushing the boundaries of what I’m capable of in this recovering-from-covid phase.
Cutting the third batch of forsythia to bring in to flower in a vase on the coffee table, I noticed that buds are opening. This will be the last lot I bring in … a bit of a wait now for the daffodils which are rather backward this year.
I did also manage to get out for 3/4 hour and do some gardening! Cutting down the brittle stems of last year’s tall plants: echinops, lillies and suchlike. There’s still a lot to do, of course, but alongside the path looks a bit tidier now.
It’s reached the dizzy height of +9.5C here at midday! In the sheltered shady angle between the house and the fence, the second flower on the camellia has opened – a month after the unseasonal first one – and there are plenty more buds coming along.
Due to a mixture of illness and inertia I was a bit late pruning the apple trees. Annie-Elisabeth is fine, but some of the buds on the Worcester Pearmain have already started swelling. Still, “better late than never” – I hope!
A chilly sunset here, but rather pretty.
Having been at Green Mount for a couple of days, I returned to find that the forsythia brought in on New year’s Day has burst into blossom.
I wasn’t actually feeling up to going over there, but Jane was away and while Mium managed the first night on her own, two nights was thought to be too much. I was pretty much dizzy and breathless after I arrived, but after sleeping for a couple of hours managed the rest of Sunday OK. Monday was OK while I was there, but by the time I arrive home I was completely done for. The thing about post-covid is that after rather few hours of feeling fine and doing things, I abruptly crash completely with little warning, so I’m very reluctant to push my limits in any way.
Christmas tree has been potted up in a larger tub, and taken outside. It’s a pot grown “Picea Glauca Conica”, which I haven’t had before. I really hope that I get the usual 3 years out of it- the last tree – a Nordman fir, I think – only did 2, as it couldn’t cope with last summer’s drought.
I used to occasionally treat myself to a crème brûlée, but that’s been off the menu for the past three years of having to watch my weight. Today I experimented with its close relative: crema catalana. Made with milk not double cream, thickened with cornflour as well as egg yolks, and flavoured with zests of orange and lemon. It turned out rather well. I’m glad I made two of them, so there’s one for tomorrow!
The first bud is starting to open on the forsythia I brought in on New Year’s Day, and the amaryllis in the bathroom has woken up and started showing a flower shoot.
Yesterday was over to Birmingham, to Synexus for the RSV trial: they wanted to de-briefme after I’d had covid. A train strike day, and as usual for West Midland there were no trains between Worcester and Brum. Fortunately, when Synexus made the appointment, I’d asked them to organise a cab in the absence of trains, which duly happened.
The afternoon was a call to Faithfull Alarms, as there’s been a problem with mu alarm since the day after I got covid. Nothing serious, but it bleeped annoyingly every five minutes, unless I pressed “disarm”, which silenced it for four hours. A quick five minutes of replacing the battery fixed it – obviously a dud battery, as it was done late November and should have lasted two years plus.
Also yesterday, a belated discussion with Clare about the “Blue Best” – my old electric bike. We agreed a price, and I got an email this morning to say that she and Ian will come round for coffee and to collect it tomorrow (Thursday). This rather inspired me to catch up on some of the housework I haven’t been up to for nearly three weeks, due to covid fatigue / laziness.