Roper's Miscellany

 My daughter has put a pot of tulips by our front path to welcome visitors.  Tulips grow wild mostly in the Middle East and as garden plants they became popular in Turkey before travelling across Europe to The Netherlands and other countries.  In Turkey tulips have a spiritual significance as the letters of their Turkish word for the flower are the same as those in one of the names of Allah.  The flower is still popular there and the month of April is the International Istanbul Tulip Festival.  The Dutch also have various tulip festivals including a Tulip Day in January.  I would have thought ice skating along the canals would be more appropriate,  But the Dutch are suffering from overtourism, so this might be one of the ways of reducing visitor numbers.  However, closer to home there  are plenty of opportunities such as the Spalding Flower Festival with a colourful parade on12th May. Some sources say tulip petals are edible and taste like onions.  However the bulbs are toxic and all p

This mouse lives under a cupboard in our front room.  He, or she, appears to be a hermit mouse and only ever appears alone.  I give it bits of bread crust but it remains unfriendly. it reminds me of that lovely, 9th C Old  Irish poem Pangur Ban about the stand-off between a medieval cleric and his eponymous cat.  I have adjusted one of the verses to apply to me and the mouse, Luch Beag (Irish for Little Mouse). 'Gainst the wall he sets his eye Full and fierce and sharp and sly. 'Gainst the wall of knowledge I All my little wisdom try.