Weather and garden

We saw the sun for an hour or so this morning; now the high clouds are moving in.

This year the wisteria appears poised to bloom more prolifically. I stopped counting at 30 scapes. That's not prolific by kightp's standards, but it's a great improvement on the six or seven scapes we had last year.

We have ants on the peony buds this year! Teeny tiny little black aunts, not the big ones I recall from my youth, but ants nevertheless.

I think I will be gardening passively this year -- not going out and acquiring new plants, but accepting what comes up. I have a lot of seedlings: corydalis, four-o-clocks, aquilegia, rudbeckia, and what I believe are rose campion. I also have enough feverfew to medicate the eastern seaboard if I let them grow. Then, of course, there are the coleus and begonias I overwintered.

We moved the hostas, in their boxes, to a spot where they would get rainwater. They are tremendously happy after the rainy spell and should have a good start on life this year before we move them back to their regular place. I am also thinking of dividing them and putting them in the ground. All of my variegated hostas have sported out to plain green, but that's all right.

( stages of grieving for a large dog )

Actorly life does not imitate Jane Austen's art

I don't follow pop culture, so I've just learned that Keira Knightly (Miss Elizabeth Bennet) has been dating Rupert Friend (Mr. Wickham) for four years.

Which reminded me that Emma Thompson (Miss Dashwood) is married to Greg Wise (Mr. Willoughby).

I shudder to think what odd pairings might come from a re-make of Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Emma, or Mansfield Park.

The quintessential Mr. Darcy

Picture_2400a
Originally uploaded by lb_philly.

I liked this picture of Mr. Darcy, but he had a bad case of green eye.

I'm feeling quite smug about having made it go away. I think I have a system now.

This is Mr. Darcy with the infamous "Toy," the only one he really liked and the one that would be dropped right next to you on the sofa, covered with dog slobber, whether you wanted to play with him or not. I bought them in bulk because they stood up to his depredations and were more chewable than a Kong, and I think I have about six left.