Just Under the Wire with Friday Thoughts

 

Friday evening, quite late. 

For the very first time this spring, daytime temperatures have reached 20 degrees Celsius this week. (That's 68 Fahrenheit) It's been absolutely lovely. I spent a couple of hours in the garden last night after dinner, enjoying the warmth (although I still wore a light jacket), and the lingering light. I picked the first four ripe strawberries and shared them with Tim. If the warmth continues, there will be more deliciousness to pick. 

Several months ago I mentioned that we took out a very tall cedar hedge. Since then, the plants growing in front of it have flourished like never before. The Siberian Irises are much taller, and white alliums bloomed for the first time in several years. I think the spate of blooms is due to more light and relief from the intense acidity of the hedge. 

My latest reading. Arctic Solitaire is the first person tale of a photographer in search of the perfect polar bear photos. He spent three summers in the northern reaches of Hudson Bay on a small boat. Bad weather, misunderstandings with local residents, and encounters with polar bears made for exciting times. 

A Long Shadow is an Ian Rutledge mystery and this one, like the others, is a satisfying story. 

The Diamond Eye drew me in immediately with the character of Lyudmila, a female sniper in the Russian army during World War II. The novel is based on a real-life character, and much of the story is historically accurate. I could barely put it down. It was made even more interesting by my own comparisons to the current war in Ukraine. 

In 1977, when we married, Tim's parents gave us a rocker-recliner chair for a wedding present. We chose blue upholstery and loved the chair for its comfort. It stayed at my parents' home during our years overseas, and was used very little then. The chair traveled from my parents' house to ours, then to our children's homes to nurse babies, and comfort ailing people. Finally, it came home to us once again, and we debated what to do with it. We've not been able to find anything as comfortable, and so we had it re-upholstered. The padding and cushioning is new, as is the grey/cream linen-blend fabric. It arrived yesterday and I love it. I hope it lasts many more years.

When we moved to this house 20 years ago, there was one rose bush, an unnamed, but prolific bloomer. It's always the first to show colour, and did so in the last 10 days. Mixed with a few late hellebore blooms, Lamb's Ears, and stalks of Blue Camas Lily, it makes a pretty bouquet. 

Here is Gertrude Jekyll, a David Austin rose, covered with tightly formed buds. If the warm weather continues I expect there will be a feast of beautiful pink blooms in the next week. Rain is also in the forecast, so things might be dicey on if the blooms open well. Gardening is always interesting, isn't it? 

I hope to get out into the garden this weekend, although there are several social events to attend, including a family party for a three-year-old and a 10-year-old celebrating birthdays.