the first daffodil

Cliona planted two large and two medium boxes with bulbs about three months ago.

Positioned against the wall, they've received a lot of rain off the roof.

We were thrilled when the first blue-grey stalk budded and opened to reveal a perfect yellow daff ...

Meanwhile, I completed a little restoration job on a tired old cigar box my friend Michel kindly gave me a couple of months ago.

To replace the missing side panel of the box, I found a piece of dark wood and cut it to measure.

I polished the box with a mixture of linseed oil and turpentine. It appreciated the nourishing oil, as it was very dry and lacklustre.

It looks lovely now and compliments another old box flanking the Victorian toilet mirror (with rope-twist columns) adorning Aunty Viv's early 19th century Tasmanian-made cedar chest-of-drawers.