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Thursday 24 April 2008

Primroses

We’ve had a few nice calm days of weather, though there has been an Easterly breeze. Today however we seem to have a sea haze and the breeze is chillier!

I just went for a brief walk to the shore and took the photo of the primrose – not an artistic shot – but it was too cold to faff about removing extraneous bits of dead grass! I was just pleased to see the cheerful little flowers at last! I can see quite a few clumps of primrose leaves along the banks of the ditches so hopefully we will have a lovely display again this year. For some reason I prefer the primrose to the daffodil, though it comes later. I think daffodils remind me too much of cultivated gardens, whereas primroses remind me of the more natural wilder landscape.

Having said that I am pleased this year with the emerging dwarf daffs in the border at the front of the house. They are at least harbingers of spring!

I tried to take some photos of the furry buds on the willow trees but the breeze was a little too strong and they came out blurred – will hopefully get a calmer day before all the leaves come out.

I can also see leaves appearing on the Duke of Argyll’s Teaplant (offial name Lycium barbarum) which grows through the dyke at the front of the house. Apparently it is quite rare, well in these parts anyway – though I didn’t know that till recently. So I must take some cuttings – the existing bush is very woody and old, it would be nice to start off some new ones to continue the line.

I’m having mixed results with the seeds I planted a few weeks ago. One strain of Calandula are thriving, while the other strain seems to be struggling. The nasturtiums are growing well (I plant them in pots first to give them a fair chance against the ravages of the hens). But there is no sign of any of the poppy seeds germinating which is a real shame. They are a Welsh poppy variety and having Welsh blood in my veins I was hoping I might have “green fingers” with the poppies – clearly not. Maybe they require a Welsh dragon breathing fire on them (my neighbour will have a comment about that I’m sure!). Wonder if a Fitzi-cat would have the same effect…….

While I was out I could hear the ewes calling for their lambs. The noise gets positively raucous sometimes at this time of year with the sheep, and birds! Wait till the kye get put out into the fields and you almost near ear plugs to sleep (well especially as Finlay I and II now start crowing at 3am!). Though last night it was so still when I went to bed that the clock ticking sounded extraordinarily loud – must have been an early night for all the livestock.

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