Spring Tidings

Journal Entry No.6
A Joyous Spring

Spring has sprung and it's a bit too quickly for my liking. I remember a few weeks before Easter I had feared my tea party would be snowed in! I couldn't fathom sunshine or green grass much less flowers. And yet, Easter came and went, and with it were crocuses and wood squill, and early daffodils.

Unfortunately just as quickly those blooms have faded and gone to seed.

Easter was a beautiful weekend spent with family. I threw the first annual tea party since before COVID-19 and it was amazing to have both grandmothers in attendance. The kitchen was well decorated in Easter decor with paper banners and decorations. We nibbled on baked goods and hors d'oeuvres and sipped fruity black teas. They regaled us with stories of Easter with their own children, dressed in their Sunday best, with little ribboned bonnets. And the two grans sung Easter parade in a duet, it was a sight to behold. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

That was on the Saturday, Easter Sunday was spent catching up with my bestie and strolling through the park. The weather was fabulous. I had no idea it was going to explode into a summer rush of temperatures in the high twenties. Apparently neither did my plants! The siberian squill bloomed and is already fading and going to seed. The much anticipated viburnum, the first plant to bloom and produce scent in the garden has already bloomed and begun dropping in only four days. The crocuses only lived two days. The tulips five. I normally get twice as much time to enjoy my flowers but this year the heat has put the pressure on my plants and caused everything to speed up. I'm very worried the flowering trees will bloom too early, as we're facing freezing temperatures tomorrow. We drop from 28°C to 6°C and then and overnight on Monday of only 1°C. I hesitate to think what our farmers are going through.

This is our plight. Global warming is a real problem. We've already been hit with wildfire warnings and there's a no fire ban. I can't make heads or tails of it, so we decided to at least enjoy ourselves. I sunbathed a little and yesterday we took a day trip out to cottage country to shop and eat by the lake. I dipped my toes into the frigid waters, it was gorgeous! We even visited an apiary where we purchased some honeycomb and ginger honey, and fresh farm eggs. I got to see their chickens at the front of the store pecking and scratching away at the garden. They were bathing in the dirt. It was lovely. And for a time I could've sworn it was already June.

I hope that temperatures stabilize. I hope we have normal, inclement spring weather, and my flowers have time to be appreciated.

So far the viburnum, aconite, wood squill and a small narcissus are the only flowers in the backyard. I have something growing in my memorial bed for Nori, it could be bluebells or a kind of wild tulip, I'm very excited to find out. I'm also nervously awaiting my daffodils, as I've had no indication of any blooms so far. I have planted this year's vegetables, and I'm waiting for the seedlings to take hold.

There will be a lot of work ahead of us, and much to document!

Until then~