Violets and Spring

It is spring in Vancouver and now that the Olympics are over it is not treason to say that spring has come. The sweet violets are almost finished producing flowers, and when I checked past garden records, I noticed that the violets are a month ahead of last year and the year before.

I picked a few violets and sugared them, by dipping them in egg white and berry sugar. I did not bother painting them with a paint brush so they are not quite as perfect as they could be. It is amazingly time consuming even just dipping the flowers, and it produces very few sugared violets. But violets are the most delightful flower and the sugar preserves them. Usually I decorate a summer birthday cake with them. They add a little crunch to the soft cake, and it is like reliving the first joy of spring all over again.

Violet Icing

A Sense of Spring

It was such a beautiful day on Friday that it inspired us to ride our bikes out to the farm. This is our earliest bike ride to the farm since we have been riding out -- about five years now. Last year was our record, when we rode out on February 23rd, but we beat it by twd days.

I had a largish amount of homework, so I couldn't spend too much time outside, but I managed to prune the raspberries and tulameens. They were already producing some green buds. The crocuses were in bloom. The snowdrops are almost done, and the daffodils are poking up through the soil. The violets have greened up; this year I am going to candy the flowers and make a spring cake with candied violets on top -- maybe for Easter.

I was sad to come back to the city today, although you could still smell spring in the air, but it was spring at a great distance. As I walked through Chinatown, I passed the courthouse where they have a row of this highly scented privet in bloom. They have an amazing scent, so it was a little bit of life in an otherwise grey place.