Top - Helleborus 'Honeymoon Blue' & Helleborus x niger 'Honeyhill Joy' 22 February 2026

The date of the scan here is today when I wrote this blog. I am filling holes as I have been doing a lot of bed rotting with Niño and Niña. I have been staring at the ceiling and doing a lot of thinking.  As Captain Beefheart said in his Ashtray Hearts - 'He's had too much to think."

Captain Beefheart - Too Much to Think

It is impossible for me to look at the now flowering hellebores without thinking that if Rosemary were alive she would look at them and smile. My Rosemary kept her emotions mostly to herself. Even though she must have laughed I don’t have a memory of her doing it.

Because of the cold rainy weather these weeks I keep postponing the inevitable which is to clean up my garden and prune my roses. The pots with my hostas have dead leaves that I have to remove. On a string of sunny days this can be a pleasant task. I do use a short ladder and my daughter Hilary says she wants to be present when I am on it. I try to be careful and I like to be independent but I just might take up her offer.

One of the spring activities that Rosemary and I indulged in was to go to nurseries to see what new plants were being offered. Now I am more likely to keep just what  have and when something dies to just remove the plant. My garden is what I call a shoulder to shoulder garden where you do not see dirt. My hostas grow to be big so that dirt underneath does not show.

Just like I don’t plant to go to the American Hosta Society Convention this year (partly  because I want to avoid going to the US ) I do believe that I might even stop paying my dues and not be a member of the society.

Is increasing withdrawal an indication of my age? I believe it is.