Fruit trees

As the midday bells sounded from across the lake today, the temperature in the sun was thirty-eight degrees. Yes, you read that right. Three-eight degrees Celsius. That would be, now let me see, (add 40, multiply by nine-fifths and subtract 40) 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. No Mathilda today!

With last night's wind, the mist and fog of recent weeks has been blown away and the day was crystal clear.

This weekend we've been planting trees. Three in total. Actually, two trees and one bush. A Williams pear, a Smile of Spring plum (what a wonderful name) and a pomegranate.

The blurb on the plum-tree label provided one of those unexpected moments of pure eroticism that gardening occasionally bestows :

Smile of Spring plum : This roundish fruit, with slightly pointed ends, has a firm, transparent, light yellow pruinose skin and a very deliquescent, juicy and sugary yellowish-white pulp...

Who writes this stuff? Whoever it is, I can't wait until late-June to find out whether there is anything behind the springtime smile.

In the meantime, the apricot tree has started to blossom and is already busy with bees :