Vivid

It was a blustery day of alternating sunny spells that made me think I should be out and about, and rain showers that made me glad I wasn't. R, who had gone walking, said on his return (a little bitterly, I thought), "Yes, that's exactly what it was like."

Luckily I had some vivid mixed tulips on hand to brighten the drabber bits of the day - though I find there's nothing like sitting down to process some photos of a jug of flowers to make me wish that my arranging skills were a little more Emma Davies, and a little less Gumby. Still, even if they are plonked rather than placed, I feel the same way about tulips as Winnie the Pooh felt about balloons: "Nobody can be uncheered with a tulip."