Light and happiness

Thousands of candles can be lit

from a single candle

and the life of the candle

will not be shortened

Happiness never decreases

by being shared

(Buddha)

Daft about daffies

On 30 March, I had a bit of a rant because uploading photos wasn't working as per usual. Here's what I was moaning about:

"Hello again
"I wanted to upload photos to this new version of blogger but it's not working at all. I've downloaded the picasa uploader, I uploaded photos, thought I had everything set up but can see efff all on the screen.
"Very frustrating, because my garden's now awash with daffies – glorious golds and yellows and oranges that glow especially beautifully on a grey afternoon. Of which we've had few, truth be told, and I'm not complaining about a bit of rain which is at last refilling the pond at the bottom of the garden.
"Running out of time, too. Hopefully, a miracle will happen and I'll learn in my sleep... Not happy with the situation as it means I may have to stop blogging altogether. Ah well."


Well, meanwhile I've had a wee brainwave and here are my daffies, a whole collection of them! Much too late, of course, but next spring I'll remind myself where they were. And I hope you'll enjoy all the same.

Oh, and remember: I'm discovering this mature garden – each day brings a new surprise. I did know about the daffies but had no idea where they were, nor how many.

12 March 2011 – Snow has fallen on budding daffies

15 March 2011 – They're resilient. Still only buds, but getting fatter.

18 March 2011 – nearly there now!

20 March 2011 – Yess! A couple of warmer days have done the trick!

21 March 2011 – They're out all over the garden now. Lovely!

22 March 2011 – Daffies on one of the bluest days of the year – yay!

23 March 2011 – Daffies everywhere! I love it. Spring's really here now.

24 March 2011 – Daffodils guard the footbridge across my wee burn.

26 March 2011 – The bigger picture.

30 March 2011 – A hybrid between narcissus and daffodil, I think... – any feedback welcome on just what this chimaera is!

1 April 2011 – Daffies in distress after a severe storm overnight.

1 April 2011 – In my survey of the "damage" wrought by the storm I come across this tiny exemplar – I don't think I've ever seen such small perfection. A true gem!

11 April 2011 – I was away for a week and came back to a garden fuller of daffies than when I left, and I thought it was full of them then. Some of them are of the complex variety. I understand bees love the simple ones better...
But these are spectacular all the same.

11 April 2011 – Crowning glories: white daffodils. Now if someone was to have a wedding today, these beauties would be perfect.

11 April 2011 – They grow very tall, too. This lone daffodil stands well above my knee height and has
pushed right through the spiny leaves of a flowering holly bush.

22 April 2011 – Purity comes in twos and threes. And just so happens to be the second-last daffy photo of this season. Again, I'd love to know what variety this is, if there's anyone knowledgeable enough out there.

Last Day of Winter, First Day of Spring -- yaaaaay!

Hiya

Spring is here in earnest -- mind you, as I type these lines on Monday, 22nd March, the air outside is filled with the swishing of the wind and the rushing of rain and water in the burn, punctuated by the high-pitched screams of seagulls that sometimes sound so like a tiny baby's cry. No matter, we celebrated spring and I want to share some of the colours I captured on the last day of winter and first day of spring.

Particularly chuffed to see these primroses spring up again -- they were rescue plants last year, bought very, very cheaply from one of the garden centres in Oban.

Wee daffies -- asphodels? -- that have come back at the foot of our house. Lovely splash of yellow.

One periwinkle blossom -- a stray plant that seeded off a tangle that has grown rather wild across the path. It lives right above the spray of daffies shown above.

The humble daisy, but oh so perfect.

Another clump of rescue primroses bought very, very cheaply last year from one of the garden centres in Oban. So pleased they've come back.

A white tulip from a bouquet in a vase at my friend's house.

A Swedish-style Easter tree. Only one more week to go!

Daffy spectacular -- these are store-bought ones in a vase at my friend's house.