have finally succumbed to my auntie-fied side and went for the annual flower and garden show last week. also, it is much more convenient this year because it is just up the street from where i stay. there were so many gardening fanatics over there, and i overheard retirees filled with a renewed resolve to beautify their gardens after being inspired by what they saw. there were flowers - all kinds (even bouganvilleas, that made me rather homesick for singas) and it is apparently 'bulb season' right now. not all bulbs - just daffodils, gladioli, tulips (somehow, i saw so many it was reminiscent of holland) and hyacinths. 2 packets of hyacinth bulbs were bought in happy anticipation of a lovely perfumed house come winter/spring. i hope there is such a thing as fools' luck, because i have incredibly un-green fingers, and have as a result killed just about as many plants as i've planted.



easter is coming, and the stores are crammed with chicks, bunnies, eggs and above all, chocolate. a documentary on confectionary and its history i watched last week informed me that easter - before religious connotations had been attached, had originally been a festival to celebrate Ishtar, the goddess of fertility. and it was celebrated in spring: a season for renewed life which spring brings. oddly enough, over in this hemisphere, while the plants are starting to die down, we seem to scramble for the last remnants of colour, chocolate and life. i suppose it is a timely reminder anyhow, for some pessimists in the crowd.

i have decided to jump on the bandwagon of easter festivities this year, and am eagerly looking forward to dyeing eggs and sending the reluctant flatmate on an egg-hunt come friday! i remember going on egg-hunts as a kid. it was on a sunday morning before the family headed out for church that my dad would - not artfully as much as scatter foil-wrapped chocolate eggs in the garden for me to happily chance upon. not much competition there, as i was an only child. so i got to keep 100% of the spoils, or rather loot unless i decided to share them around (which happened often because hey, i am a nice kid like that).



so. if all goes well with the egg-dyeing, there will be pictures to post in the near future. unless the procrastination-monster gets the better of me yet again. i am excited about the hyacinths too, and hope fervently they will grow to bloom like the ones in the picture above.