Amaryllis

I care not for these ladies,
That must be wooed and prayed;
Give me kind Amaryllis,*
The wanton country maid.
Nature art disdaineth;
Her beauty is her own
Thomas Campion

My amaryllis has a mind of its own. It looks dead and wretched at Christmas when it should be flourishing and each year I threaten to throw it out, instead I place it somewhere in the grungy back depths of the conservatory along with the wilful spider plants. Come early May it's looking brown and wrinkled and more threats are issued along with a little water. Lo and behold a tiny green shoot appears and followed by a huge stalk and fat buds. It managed three stripy flowers this year but is now folding up again for the season. It will shortly go back amongst the spider plants and be ignored.

Sunshine and showers today and a very cold wind.A few chores and also a little more research on yesterday's asylum - you have to get your priorities right! It seemed to start off so well and had an enlightened doctor who believed in the power of Turkish baths. By 1860 over 80 baths a day were being taken in the two hot rooms,  but he was mocked for although the baths were found to do the patients a huge amount of good there was no scientific/medical explanation for their success and they were eventually abandoned in the 1890s. I wonder if they're still in there? By 1930s conditions within the asylums was grim and by 1988 there were over 1000 people within, many of them having been there for years. The report was exceptionally damning and it eventually closed in 2002 -  only 13 years ago. What a sobering thought. 

* just had to check out the story of Amaryllis - very odd - short-sighted, plant-loving shepherd and a giddy country girl - story here  if you really want to know!