Quicksilver Rising

This article has nothing to do with the fantasy trilogy by Stan Nicholls.

The quicksilver rising by me, rosesarerae is about the garden thermometer that kept going up and up and up....a little over 2 weeks ago, it was 2°c in the morning, sleeting and snowing. Tomorrow 22°c is expected, thanks to the warm air phenomena; The Foehn that pushes up from the south.

Picture left: Cercis Avondale buds on naked branches.

There are so many colours everywhere around me at the moment and it is really great to be out and about in tee shirts and shorts! Lots of pale knees was seen walking around bumping into things in the last few days.

We didn't go down to visit relatives in Italy during easter this year, and that gave me a chance to spend the long weekend pottering about in the garden. Since the day I got married, I'm always back and forth to my inlaws in Italy that I cannot recall the last time I get the chance to savour the joy of seeing so many spring blooms unfurl right under my nose.

I am also very sorry for the people in and around Abruzzo who lost their love ones during the earthquake. I hope they will soon stand up again with stronger faith, pick up the pieces, move forward and rebuild their lives. There is nothing much we can do when the earth decided to move by itself other than quickly get out of any building structures.

Get out of the building! Run for your life! It's easy to say that isn't it? 2 years ago I was working on my laptop on the dining table when suddenly I heard a very loud CRACK sound coming from the roof top glass wall. Even after I think hard about it, I cannot remember feeling any swaying, anything moving or vibrating and I really didn't connect the loud sound to earthquake but the alarm did went off by itself and the dog was barking like mad. I didn't even leave my seat. I was probably so focus working on the PC that I became oblivious to my surrounding.

An hour later I heard on the news, there was a 2.8 richter scale earthquake about 50 km away. Then I got scared. I went and checked all the glass walls, found nothing broken or cracked. I still have no idea where exactly the loud crack sound came from, but I am more organised now, just in case I have to dash out of the house within seconds. Dog leash, keys etc etc are now in the same corner on the way to the door.

The blooms from Magnolia tree Heaven Scent are slowly opening up . Somewhat their very short peak blooming period without fail always coincide with low precipitation. Rain is expected in the coming days and that will for sure spoil the show. The thick petals turn brown after lots of rain, but rain is also very much needed at the moment by all the plants that are sprouting leaves and growing at the speed of light.

Strangely, with the amount of birds I've got swooping around the garden, none of them go for the berries of Nandina Domestica or Heavenly Bamboo. The black bird stripped off the berries from Ilex shrub and finished eating them by mid January but they didn't touch the Nandina berries at all, which I find rather odd. This shrub with its intact berries really shine in the garden at the moment, especially during sunny days. They never look this brilliant during those drab grey winter months.
The ornamental cherry blossoms are also in full bloom and the bees are having a field day.

I saw this whistling trush a couple of times at the edge of my woodland clearing. I couldn't get his head in the picture because he moved twice higher up the tree when he saw me pointing the camera at him. I'm not sure if this is a he or she, but I know that this bird is looking for snails, unfortunately the snails are still high and dry hiding somewhere until the next rain soften the ground so they could glide down the slope and attack the iris patch.