We’ve been having a week of family and friends’ birthdays this week. And it’s not quite over. I took an old friend out to lunch on Wednesday. We couldn’t manage her actual birthday, yesterday, as I had our small grandson and, charming as he is, his presence would have changed the nature of our lunch date. On Sunday we’ll do a joint celebration of my daughter’s birthday, which was Monday, and Grandson Number One’s birthday, which is tomorrow. A two-for-the-price-of-one birthday. I shall bake a chocolate cake, with chocolate butter icing and sprinkles of sugar stars! Candles might well be limited to one each!
Forty three years ago, when our daughter was born, I was already wearing summer clothes and had quite a nice suntan, some of that down to the fact that you tan more easily when pregnant. But the fact remains that it was warm enough to stroll around in light clothes in the warm sunshine. A few years ago, when they finally decided that we could meet friends and family in small groups in our gardens, instead of covid-enclosing ourselves indoors, we organised a birthday gathering for her in the garden - birthday cake on the picnic table.
This year it would be decidedly chilly to do a birthday party in the garden. My weather app tells me it’s 12°: hardly picnic temperature! Southern Europe is having a ridiculously early spring heatwave. The maximum temperature at Córdoba of 38.7C is highest April temperature ever recorded in Europe. But the hot blast from Africa is not reaching here. I am trying to find a way to blame it on Brexit; since we “left” Europe, we don’t benefit from warm weather. Another Brexit benefit!? Yes, I know that that is all nonsense. In Florida they’ve been having huge hailstones! Climate change is playing havoc everywhere!
But spring is actually here. The trees are coming into leaf. My bluebells are opening up nicely. And a charity called Plantlife is advising us all to refrain from cutting the grass. “No Mow May” is the name of their campaign, urging us to give wild flowers a chance to spring up on our gardens. (These month-name campaigns drive me barmy. Dry January was enough but Veganuary really put the cap on it!) They tell us that the 10 most common plants recorded during the campaign last year were daisies, creeping buttercup, yellow rattle, common bird’s-foot trefoil, field forget-me-not, meadow buttercup, white clover, common mouse-ear, oxeye daisy and dandelion. I think we have most of those in the garden but the “lawn” has mostly dandelions, daisies and clover.
Plantlife estimated that Britain’s lawns could be cut as many as 30m times a year under a weekly regime. This would be equivalent to the consumption of 45m litres of petrol, resulting in 80,000 tonnes of annual carbon dioxide emissions – or the combined carbon footprint of about 10,000 average households. I wonder how many of these lawn trimmers do it our way with an old-fashioned push mower! We use no petrol and I’m pretty sure Phil produces minimal carbon dioxide as he pushes the mower up and down the garden.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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