Well, not what I thought it might! The daffodils are still blooming, but it is a little too white to see them. I hope this is THE END OF THE SNOW for this season. We are influenced by Lake Erie not as much as the City of Erie is, but we got our share this year. I think Erie had a record snowfall. The beautiful cardinal was waiting for his food in this last picture. He is beautiful when it snows! Click on the picture to enlarge it!
The Herbal Husband always thinks of the best ideas and this is one of them. There is snow in the forecast so he went around and cut the daffodils that were open! They are so cheerful and lovely. A great idea!
This is the before picture of the germander and santolina bed in my herb garden. I saw how much of the germander was dead and decided that it was an herbal opportunity I couldn't pass up!
The germander will be replaced with miniature boxwoods that I have struggled with placement for several years. Hopefully this time they will find a home. After the snow, we will get them transplanted. The santolina is looking a bit gnarly also! Another herbal opportunity on the horizon! Hope you are enjoying your herb garden wherever you are.
This is a mainstay in our garden, Sedum 'Autumn Joy'. It never has disease or insect damage and is very hardy for the northern gardens. It is a real winner for us! I didn't get much else done. There is so much to do!
There is also the forecast of snow on Tuesday so can't be too quick! Bertha Reppert always said one hour each day in your garden can make all of the difference. I will have to remember that this gardening season. We have the master gardeners and the library tour this summer! Will make the summer interesting. We may actually get all of the garden furniture out this year! Exciting! Hope you are enjoying your garden wherever you may be!
I love daffodils because they are beautiful flowers, some are very fragrant and all of them are DEER PROOF! The best reason of all to have them in your garden. I got "The Works" years ago from White Flower Farm. One Hundred bulbs of various kinds and they have gone on and on. I love these particular daffodils. They always seem to turn away when you are trying to get a picture. Here are their faces.
We hit the ground running in London. We first went to the British Museum that I had not visited for a number of years. Always something new to see here! This is by far my favorite room called the Enlightenment Room. The Enlightenment was an age of reason and learning from about 1680 to 1820. The exhibit demonstrates how people in Britain understood their world. It is housed in the King's library, the former home of the library of King George III. The room itself is just magical and if you love books, like I do, it is just wonderful! It is divided into seven sections exploring the disciplines of the age of religion and ritual, trade and discovery, the birth of archaeology, art history, classification of the decipherment of ancient scripts and natural history. It was opened in 2003 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the British Museum. The room has something for everyone!
With fresh chives from the garden and a little flat leaved parsley from the store, the Herbal Husband outdid himself with this salad. Almost too beautiful to eat but, with artichokes, avocado and tomato and some Boston lettuce we made the herbal sacrifice. It was delicious! Just in time for spring.
I decided not to bore you all with too many pictures of our trip to England and Spain. I'll just give you a glimpse 
periodically. What I know you really want to see is the renewal in the garden! We did not have too much rain until we got home so the daffodils are not as numerous as they could be. They have finally started to bloom! The Herbal Husband and I have a lot of clean up, but hopefully once our colds get better, we will be full steam ahead! Also, I'm guest blogging for The Herb Companion magazine every other week. The editors of the magazine are looking for bloggers. So if you are interested in herb gardening like me, please look into it. 
The village of Grafton Underwood was a place of intense activity during World War II specifically between 1943 and 1945. There was an airbase there that covered approximately 500 acres and housed up to 3,000 Air Force personnel. Our 92 year old friend, Jim Sweeney, flew B-17s out of Grafton Underwood. The photo at the top is a memorial to the 384th Bombardment Group, Jim's group. We also went to St. James Church dating back to the 12th century that has a stained glass window commemorating the 384th Bombardment Group. We carried an old photo of Jim and showed it to the people of Grafton Underwood. They were all very kind and had great respect for our armed forces. We went to lunch near Grafton Underwood and found a poster which was identical to the placard below. We then went to Kettering to the Tourist Bureau and were able to purchase one for Jim. We think he will be pleased. It was a very emotional visit and a moving tribute to the brave men and women who fought for freedom. The village also has an official crossing for ducks! Some place special!
