I suppose the pleasure of country life lies really in the eternally renewed evidences of the determination to live...

said Vita Sackville-West, splendid woman. (I know VirginiaWoolf agreed with me, in her own particular way...)

By Shoshana Kertesz

 There are brave efforts going on in a very bleak and bare garden to illustrate this determination to live.

Smiley miniature daffodils!

Cherry blossom (just about) on the tree I bought to remind me of my trip to China.

That's about it, folks. But it's a start!

While we're on the subject of the garden, may I introduce you to my Patent Wind Gauge? Everyone should have one.

Mostly, just one chair blows over if there's wind. Yesterday, the wind force was 2 on the Garden Chair Scale. Apparently, when we were away in Switzerland, all four blew over. Must have been practically a hurricane!

Ah, extreme conditions in an English country garden!