Stopping to smell the hyacinths

Walking through the front hallway is bliss at the moment. The hyacinths are in full scent and flower and the perfume fills several rooms. The bulbs in the round white bowl turned out to be yellow... I had forgotten which colour I got. I'm loving the pastel confection and the frothy spring cheerfulness of it all. Oh, let it be spring now... 

The flower heads are heavy and I've used organza ribbon to tie them to mini chopstick stakes. A few days after these photos were taken I had to cut the heads off because they got so heavy they bent at the neck. I pushed bamboo skewers through the stems so they would stand upright in a vase.

This display will probably last another week, then hopefully the outdoor daffs and other bulbs will start to earn their keep.

Keeping busy

I have several small craft projects on the go for long winter nights. The nights seem unending and sometimes so do the projects, in particular the hexie blanket! (Mr Lui felt that he was more deserving of my attention with the camera on that afternoon, in fact he felt I should put down the camera and go feed him. Now.)

Small crochet rocks are a quick and cute project, the only thing is that as soon as I finish one I have a better idea for the next. Luckily they look good in a group.

Tiny glass flowers in a vintage spool, a stand in while most real flowers are out of season. And a small embroidery of simple things which make me happy. More to show on that in another post.

July flowers

Just a couple of snapshots today. The garden is looking so flattened and soggy that it's best just to turn the other way, and my indoor flower displays mainly consist of big bunches of wintersweet (which I've shown you several times already) and the tantalising spring bulbs in my previous post.

Flowering outside we do have Bellarina primroses, in lacy pink and indigo blue, and the delicate appleblossom flowers of Fairy Blush camellia. The wintersweet is in its final flush and I'll be sad to say goodbye to that lovely for another year. The paper daisy is in full bud however and some of the little flowers are even starting to open up, which bodes well for the next few months! Promises for late winter include buds on the daphne and hellebores, and hopefully the earlicheers and crocuses won't be too far away. Today is the halfway point after all... spring is only six weeks away!

Forcing it

In an attempt to make spring come early, I am forcing nature to bend to my will. I want spring flowers and I want them now! These hyacinth and crocus bulbs were chilled in the fridge and then potted up about six weeks ago. Now they are slowly unfurling.

I am very much enjoying this arrangement on the hall table. It may be too early to be thinking spring, but it lifts my heart whenever I walk in and see it. I can't wait till I have the sweet hyacinth scent to lift me even further.

It's cold

Winter mornings are biting. Frost, ice, frozen mud, breath like smoke. It makes getting out of bed so much harder! I am in hibernation mode at the moment... basically just gritting my teeth and waiting out winter. I have a few little projects I'm working on inside and some larger garden ones that I do a bit at a time, weather permitting. Feeding the birds and watering the houseplants. Cooking endless batches of soup. Waiting, waiting, waiting.