Downshift

 

I planted a bag of Costco hyacinths last September, and predictably, a squirrel dug one up and just left it laying there. They must dig more from curiosity than anything else. For all their mischief in the garden, I've never seen a chewed bulb. For that matter, hyacinths are poisonous. 

Anyway, it was undamaged so I planted it in a tiny flower pot and brought it inside a few days ago. Nothing smells like a hyacinth in January-- described as "slightly spicy with a hint of jasmine and rose."

Speaking of jasmine, I did a heavy prune (actually, a butchering) on our old one that flops up over the deck railing. It looks like it was chopped by Attila the Hun!  Hopefully, I didn't finish it off.

Like many flowering vines, the hardy jasmine is so exquisite when it blooms, but kind of an invasive pain the rest of the year.

The big home project this spring is replacing the 45-year old deck. Hence the jasmine prune. How many times have I painted those splintering boards on hands and knees? The new deck surface will be composite, yea, which should outlast us. We have a contractor lined up and they start sometime in March. That's exciting.

This morning we woke up to grey and cold instead of sunny and cold. Bean soup for dinner. These times they are a'changin'.