Bought hyacinths with foaming white flowers,
and home-grown hyacinths newly in from the cold, still lime-green and unaccustomed to bright light.
I re-read The Diary of a Provincial Lady recently and have decided I prefer the PL to Mrs Miniver because she is so devastatingly clear-sighted, remarkably well-read, and consistently subversive. If she actually spoke her mind instead of keeping silent and committing her words to her diary, she could have sparked a feminist revolution in the Home Counties. Of course, the hyacinth-forcing/competitive bulb-growing saga is as brilliantly funny as ever. And while I wouldn't take hyacinth tips from the PL, what I do admire is her resolution to try all over again after the year's efforts have failed. It's a triumph of hope over experience - the right way to begin any new year.
