Weeknotes 2022.22: a dispatch from Normal Island

My participation in the Platinum Jubilee celebrations has been:

• getting an extra bank holiday off work
• getting 15% off on the suit & shirts I needed to buy for a wedding
• eating 1 cupcake and 1 dessert from a certain large supermarket that had various Union Flag-themed decorations
• heading out to get lunch and (completely accidentally) seeing the military flypast, with the Eurofighter Typhoons spelling out the number 70 and with warplanes in tight formation with a civilian jet, which is definitely not comparable to something you might see in Russia or North Korea, no sur-ee

Over the 10 years since the last Jubilee, my position on the monarchy has hardened from ‘it’s silly but it brings in money and is an important part of our heritage’ to ‘it’s an embarrassing anachronism that should be abolished.’ This weekend has only served to harden it further.

Bulb/Plant Watch: a run of lovely sunny weather has given way to cool grey skies (it’s a bank holiday, what did you expect?) and most of the spring bulb foliage has now completely gone over, so I spent a lot of the bank holiday weekend emptying pots of dried vegetation and using the space for chives (dividing a supermarket plant from last year to rejuvenate it, and adding a new variety) and mint (because somehow we managed to kill the mint we had last year.) I particularly like the Corsican variety of mint which has smol leaves and a potent aroma, and the grapefruit variety which seems to produce rather fat leaves with a vibrant tinge to them. The anemones continue to rise, something that looks like it might be crocosmia is on its way up, and the geranium with the dark leaves is providing a lovely contrast as its little white flowers pop. The lavender is also coming into bloom, although it's having to reach its way over the edge of the balcony leading to an odd, flaccid effect. It smells fantastic, though.