It's been a very blustery month, with lots of wind, though not much rain, for a change. Spring flowers are just beginning to bloom, buds on the trees, sprigs on some Spring shrubs, etc. It makes you feel that eventually things will all be green and lush again. I live in anticipation that this year we might actually have a Summer...after two years of not. Spring, by it's nature, is so filled with possibilities and hope, isn't it..??
[Before anyone tries to correct my capitalization of Spring and Summer (Alan), I totally think the seasons should be in caps and have always done so, regardless of spelling rules].
So, now on we go...into the rambling:
My dear neighbor, Morag, gave me the most stunning Amaryllis bulb for my Christmas gift this year (well, last year to be accurate). I planted it the very same day, and have watched it grow since late December. This week I took these photos...and talk about a gift that keeps on giving...!! It's truly an amazing sight, with 7 flowers on 2 stalks...the best Amaryllis I've ever had.
These are the most beautiful blooms imaginable, and as usual, the photos do NOT do them justice..!!In my "Catch Up" blog last month, I mentioned that Lorna and Derek (across the street neighbors) had gotten a new puppy, Harvey the Boxer. I saw Derek out with him the other day and dashed over to snap this photo. I will take some better ones, maybe in their backyard, as the sidewalk looks pretty crappy, but still...is he sweet, or what..?? That sorrowful look on his face is so adorable, especially as he is so happy and playful, which is at such odds with this look. He's getting a bit gangly now, though has a long way to go before growing into his feet..!!
And, speaking of dogs. We decided to take a drive yesterday out to Crieff, which is normally about an hour's drive from Edinburgh. I wanted to take some more photos of this place outside Crieff where we'd taken my sister when she visited. It's just a lovely, peaceful valley, with the mountains in the distance, sheep grazing, and lots of green fields and old farms. When we left Edinburgh it was a sunny Saturday afternoon. After getting stuck in the endless flaming roadworks that abound in Scotland these days, we finally got to Crieff about two hours later, and just as the storm clouds came roaring in...sigh. I took photos, though they didn't come out very well, nor look as dramatic as reality. Then we couldn't find a place to have lunch (don't ask), so it's an hour 
and a half drive back to town. Naturally, Ozzy being the traveller he is (NOT), by the time we pulled into the driveway, Alan and I aren't speaking, and Ozzy has thrown up all over the back of the car. Here's a picture of him before we left...and what a happy creature, huh..?? I don't have a photo of him after we returned from the ruinous drive because a) I was too busy cleaning up the car, and b) he went under the bed and didn't come out until later in the evening..!! Cripes, sometime I can't help but wonder: Why do I bother..?? This is a cool Spring thing, and something that seems very British to me: daffodils planted in the lawn..!! They just appear out of nowhere, and look so wonderful. I took these photos at the Manse, which is where the minister of the Cramond Kirk lives. When the flowers are long gone, with just the green stalks left, it's about time for the first lawn mowing, then they get cut right along with the grass. I love how they look, springing up in big clumps like this.
I took this shot last month, in the drearyness of February. This is one side garden of the Manse, and looks like every other piece of barren ground in the area at this time of year.
This is a photo, taken last week, of the same plot of ground. It that great, or what..?? Just huge bands of yellow where last month there was nothing. In the far distance, just to the left, you can see another large swath.
This is the opposite side garden of the Manse, with the Kirk in the background, and more clumps of daffodils just sprouting away in the grass. With the rest of the garden still bleak and bare, it's wonderful to see these glorious, bright yellow flowers everywhere.
My last thought for the day is about the very sad demise of Natasha Richardson. At first it seemed like such an odd, and rare, accident...I mean really, falling into the snow and within hours being brain dead..?? Then I read that in just America alone, 50,000 people (yes, 50,000) die of this same thing every year. So much for our skulls being natural helmets for our brains..!! It makes life seem so fragile, doesn't it..?? We go along, falling, tripping, stumbling, and never really think that at any given moment we could accidentally do ourselves in. Mortality, what a drag.
