Fragile Fritillaria

The weather continues to be unseasonably cool. So far this year, the lawn mower has had only one outing - on 2nd March - and that was only to cut the small side lawn. The main area of grass hasn't really needed cutting until now, although it's been sorely in need of attention to deal with its moss and thatch for some time (sadly neglected by our concentration on the field). So the 'trusty' mower was wheeled out and, after some coaxing, got going. We started on the side grass, then moved down to the lower lawn. Though still warm, the mower refused to re-start! We tried the usual remedies - cleaning and changing the spark plug, checking the oil and petrol level, playing with the carburettor adjustment - all to no avail. Occasionally, it would fire once and exude a puff of black smoke but that was it. We left it a while to cool down - still nothing. The same happened last year and we took it for repair. The advice then was that we might get another season from it, which we did. So, we must accept that the time has come to consign it to the recycling centre.

Not happy with the recent shot of the rockery, here is a close-up of the little fritillaria to show off its colour. (It also made a brief appearance on 16 April.) We love these delicate spring flowers and had a few isolated individual specimens dotted around the garden, but only one has appeared this year. Recently, we purchased a clump that now has a dedicated spot in the rockery. Mackintosh fans will be familiar with them. Surely they were an inspiration for the signature squares that feature in his wonderful art, architecture furniture and interior design.