It is hard to believe that I was first this year!

The houses round here all have flowers hanging below their windows between Spring and Autumn.
I have to admit, it does make them look nice. So, so as not to be different, I participate in this tradition - after all, the window boxes are a fixture and they look strange when they are empty.

Last Wednesday was ‘Kalte Sophie’ the last of the  Eis-Heiligen - the Ice-Saints. These are four days named after the Saints Pankratius, Servatius, Bonifatius and Sophie (the Catholic church has determined a saint for each calendar day) that can begin with a frost. Wednesday evening my flowers were in their window boxes - the first in the whole of the neighbourhood!

Sadly I am unable to take credit for the fact.
I had visitors last week and they took it upon themselves (boredom?) to attend to my empty flower boxes.

Now I have a problem.
Over the years, I have discovered that the whole affair of flowers and plants is rather complicated...
... apparently they need things like water and ¿fertilizer? at regular intervals.

I was never particularly good at maths - especially algebra and equations with unknown denominations - X * Y = ?.
Apparently the important part of this equation is ‘interval’.
Twice every six months, so I have been informed, may be regular, but I seem to have interpreted Y wrongly.
The result: X * Y = †

Somehow, I can’t get rid of the feeling that part of the equation is missing. Didn’t they always give us some sort of a clue at school? Something like X * Y = 6 ?

I shall try very hard, this year, not to disappoint my friends...



There are three of these...
... while downstairs we still have last year's weeds.