Not Just a Flower

Nature moves fast in Spring.

We had that blip in February when we had a few days when it was as warm as would normally be expected in May, but this patch of London hasn't had the sudden cold snaps, snow or flooding seen elsewhere.  A bit chilly, but nothing an extra layer or two can't fight off.

As March turned into April, grape hyacinths took centre stage in the tiny lawn in the front garden.  Last year, the grass was getting a little scruffy, not helped by the appearance of self-sown salsify in it, from I know not where.  Pretty pink flowers maybe, but not what I intended.  So in October, we took up the old turf, landscaped the area so it didn't slope down towards the house wall, got the soil in better order & replaced the lawn.  Before we put a new roll of turf down, we planted some bulbs.  Orange flowered crocus, the aforementioned grape hyacinths and a small native narcissus.

Not just any old narcissus, but the strain of native daffodil found in Herefordshire & the borders, most famously around the village of Dymock.  These are the same variety Monty Don has planted in his garden, which I think is a little further north west in the county.  Not sure where he got his from, but we bought ours from the Newent Garden Centre on our now habitual afternoon tea at The Nest, Ledbury on our way home from our weekend visiting the area for the Malvern Autumn show.

Getting those bulbs was a way to have something that kept alive my connection to the area - a tiny nod towards my heritage.  On researching my family tree, I was able to trace once branch back to the villages of Much Marcle & Dymock itself during the mid to late 1500's.  Having that little daffodil in place, ready to show up every spring, is a great reminder.

How Did We Get To Here?

Years ago, when I was working for a music publishers, one of the regular visitors to the company offices was a typical music biz chancer of the time, always on the look for a gimmick that would be a quick way to a hit.  One of the acts he managed wrote a UK Euro entry (One Step Closer - Bardo), which nearly came a cropper because the song had already been released in Japan on the b-side of the original band's single.  A business bigwig got wind of this, but it was all hushed up because our chancer had some knowledge about the other guy that he hinted would get into the press if he went to the authorities, so that all went quiet.  A few months later, he was looking for a 30's/40's novelty song for another set of charges (another washed-up formerly faux mod band, trying to reinvent themselves as all-round entertainers).  As my job required much time in the sheet & recorded music archive, I found the perfect song for them, and it was a bona fide hit.  Unfortunately, the song was so old & obscure, my employers' rights to the copyright had lapsed and no-one had seen any point in renewing them. 

A few years after the music publishers closed down, and I was well out of the music business, I saw the old chancer on TV.  He was claiming to have found film of the Americans undertaking an autopsy of those on board a UFO.  Obviously, this was pretty soon exposed as a complete scam, but the incident was made into a film.  What a let down - to have part of the story of your life on the silver screen, only for your part to be played by Ant.  Or was it Dec?

Why am I reminded of this?  Well, one Christmas, as I wrote my Christmas cards for my colleagues, I found among my Woolies selection the perfect card for him.  Two little cartoon mice, playing ten pin bowling, but using holly berries as bowling balls.  A little bit of customisation of the card and it was perfect for him, and went down a storm in the office: a little word bubble, stating "Keep going - If you throw enough of these at the wall, some of them will stick".

Unless she is genuinely deluded, I have a feeling that the sentiment of that little card sums up the Prime Minister's EU vote strategy.

I despair.