New blooms

Happily, my youngest houserabbit is back home after she became very ill following a routine vaccination caused her temperature to rocket to dangerous levels for such a small, young animal. Thank goodness I was based at home yesterday and could take her to the vet immediately, once I'd had a chat on the phone and explained that the poor creature had a huge bleeding patch on her back, and absolutely no appetite – things that might be a blip for, say, a dog, but could be life-threatening for a lapin. She was kept in for the day and night, to ensure that she was eating properly and had been brought back to a normal temperature. The vaccine manufacturer has paid for all her treatment, which is helpful, as we had failed to renew her insurance – it was three days out of date. Sod's law etcetera...

This afternoon, I put 77 new plants into the ground, some of which will flower anytime soon; others are set to bloom from May through to late summer. Several of them are scented and all of them are colourful and hold great promise for our own (very) mini Kew Gardens. It was hard work but incredibly satisfying. Even though the ground is quite dark at the moment, the bulbs and small baby plants are firmly planted and watered, and if the weather carries on the way it has been for the past month (it was the warmest January since 1916), there should be some extra colour soon. We are going to a tapas place later – there are huge sofas as well as plenty of tables and good beer. S painted the expanses of wall that were water damaged/ ruined by the people who tried to shove a wardrobe through the narrow hallway. He, too, deserves beer and Spanish food.