Bulbs in the mail box

I know I have promised to tell everything in chronological order, but the narratology of real life is much more complex. I am so full of joy and energy. It is the first of April, and I am out in the garden in my shorts and hat, planting summer bulbs. Today I have actually remembered to use sunscreen to protect myself from this truly tropical sun. Two days ago I got burned.

It may seem that planting bulbs should not be my highest priority, but it is. Normally, I would also wait a few months to see what the garden already held. But some weeks ago, I saw an ad in The Guardian, offering 115 bulbs and 12 strawberry plants free, for just postage costs. I thought there was some Catch-22, such as you make a commitment to buy fifty cherry trees and fifty yew trees, but actually it was all fair trade. My plants and bulbs arrived the other day in neat little boxes labelled "Open immediately" which I did. And it takes some time to plant 115 bulbs. I am glad I brought my bulb planter from the old country. And I am so happy to be planting bulbs in my very own garden.

But I am now well ahead of time.

This is a bulb planter, for those who don't know. Before I discovered it, planting bulbs was a h-l of a job