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Before settling down to an afternoon of vicarious rugby on the television, I wandered round the garden and picked a virtual bunch of varieties of daffodil.
Here it is.
The Six Nations rugby matches were Scotland v. Italy at Murrayfield; France v. Wales in Paris televised by BBC; and finally Ireland v. England in Dublin on ITV.
As is my normal practice, I won’t reveal the results of these games, but I cannot remain totally silent about the second match, certainly the longest and most bizarre I have ever seen. A rugby match lasts 80 minutes. In certain situations it may continue until a natural stoppage after full time. This would normally be no more than 2 or 3 minutes. The first 79 minutes of this contest were most unmemorable. There then followed 21 further minutes, including struggles a few metres from one try line, a certain number of offences, a sending off, some replacements, and perhaps a cheeky bit of cheating involving a team doctor. That will probably never be forgotten.
This evening we dined on Jackie’s spicy pasta arrabiata with mange toutes and rocket salad, followed by tiramisu. Jackie drank Hoegaarden, and I abstained because I had drunk a bottle of Doom Bar whilst watching the rugby.
Thank you for the bouquet. I don’t have adequate space for bulbs and I am not one for annuals but these are bursts of sunshine on yet another gloomy day in Sydney.
Many thanks, Mary. Gloomy here, too
magnifiques flowers, thank you Derrick
Many thanks, Sylvie
Oh how glorious they are!
Thanks very much, Osyt
So cheery! I love the variety of daffodils! These are wonderful photos.
Thanks very much, Cheryl. I think I’m going to like your blog, too
I hope so. I know we have flowers, gardens, pasta, tiramisu, and beer in common. I can’t wait to delve into your blog archives-you’ve been doing this a while! Cheers!
I hope you like what you find 🙂
Oh my goodness, yes! I’m so happy I found your blog. Lovely! (Books, too! Yay!)
🙂
Daffodils…the hope of a real Spring ! Thanks.
That’s right Van. Thanks a lot
I know as we come to the end of every winter I so love to see the cheerful daffodils. They contain promises of longer days and warmer weather not too far away…… The rugby match sounds exciting, even I. who generally abhors the game, might be tempted to watch such an ending. And drink a bottle of Doom Bar with you!!
Many thanks, Pauline. Just the last 20 minutes would have done 🙂
Such lovely flowers Derrick! It reminds me there is Spring haha
Thanks a lot, Lynn. May yours come soon.
Thanks!
I just can’t believe how beautiful your garden is while we are still with snow. So nice to see your spring while I ache for ours.
Your rugby report was funny. I can tell you are busting to rant. : )
Beautiful, exciting, colourful! And the daffadils were nice too!! (Incidentally, daffodill is a word I have never been able to spell, along with
vechilevelhicle.)Many thanks, Bruce. Daffy as ever
I would’ve thought it as a little dilly!
Take your Picca
LOL! More than GLAD to!
You are such a sweet pea
😀
Gorgeous. My favorites are the fragrant ones.
Me, too, Inese. Thank you.
I wondered lonely as a cloud on your blog after a soul-frying week at the office. Daffodils make me feel both small and big, waving under infinitesimal skies. Thank you, Derrick.
PS: Zinfandel and cricket are more my doom than rugby and beer.
Thanks a lot, Uma. I played both cricket and rugby until I was 45. When the seasons overlapped, cricket always came first. I’m more a wine man these days, but beer is the accompaniment for rugby.
We had a similar ending to a match once at Nottingham, though I think it was only 8 minutes. Seemed like a lifetime, and Leeds eventually scored to win the match. Looking on the bright side it was only 100 minutes – you could have been watching cricket – five days and ends with a draw! (Apologies to umashankar 😉 )
Thanks very much, Quercus. Brian Moore’s ‘Who would want to pay £84 to watch this?’. Great on TV, but from the stands……..
Yes, it’s a balancing act. The scrum, ruck and maul are all great parts of the game but you need to see the ball sometimes!
Actually, I wonder whether the set scrum has any point today when no-one ever puts the ball in straight.
Ah, now, an interesting point…
I totally agree, but a few years ago everyone seemed to stop putting the ball in straight. When I enquired about this I was told it was going in straight according to the way referees were now interpreting the law. As long as it passes the mid-line, even at an angle, it seems to be considered legal now. (As in Rugby League).
And what about Law 6.A.4(a)? “The referee is the sole judge of fact and of Law during a match”. It’s led to some outrageous decisions over the years (old wounds run deep here!) but it strikes me it’s better than TMOs telling the ref what to do, which seems to be happening more and more.
Sorry, rant over. 🙂
Mostly it seems to go directly to the nearest second row man 🙂 Surely the TMO was introduced to give the players a breather 🙂
Seems that way on both counts. 🙂
I don’t watch rugby, but what an excellent idea not to reveal the results so that people can watch the matches as if live. Very considerate….a lot more considerate than football on the BBC!
Many thanks, John
Flowers are naturally beauties but when you present them wonderfully these flowers represent different dimension altogether. Thanks sharing sir..
Very many thanks, Harbans. Lovely comment
My pleasure sir.
I love daffodils! Thank you for the lovely bouquet, Derrick!
And thank you, Merril
I very much enjoyed these images, Derrick. We had a killing frost, actually sub freezing temps, and most of our daffodils were lost.
While you watch rugby, here in the US we are in the middle of March Madness (college basketball). One of my teams went out in the first round, and one has moved on to the Sweet 16.
Many thanks, Laurie. Sorry you are so cold. Good luck with the Sweet 16
Gorgeous spring flowers, Derrick. Doom Bar sounds quite potent. 🙂
Thanks very much, Sylvia. One is quite enough for me these days
Daffodils and rugby! Quite a combination.
🙂 Thanks, Leslie
Wonderful flowers…they just made me happy… 🙂
I don’t think it was so much as abstaining I think you were probably blotto after knocking off the bottle of Doom Bar, which sounds like a potent drop of whatever it is! 👿
Plenty of flowers; you ust be having an early spring.
The equinox is running a couple of days late this time, the Sun will still be up here in the Southern Hemisphere on the 21/22nd, might not drop down to the Northern Hemisphere ’til 23/24 or the following day.
It’s got me a trifle worried
Thanks a lot, Brian. You have been having a rough summer, I think
Yes indeed, January was hottest on record, February almost as bad and we’ve had nothing but violent storms since. And our politicians believe climate change is only in the imagination of we socialists. 👿
Our daffodils and pansies are bending and nodding their heads having experienced freezing nights lately. Glad you had a rather exciting and strange rugby watching afternoon! Having a bottle of a beverage while watching games can soften the results if they turn out badly. . .
Thanks very much, Robin. The England game did turn out badly 🙂
It’s too bad. . .
Only a game 🙂