Hellebore-ing?

Sorry, feeble title for a not very original blip. I think the back-door hellebores featured a couple of weeks ago, and here they are again.  And flourishing in spite of the cold.  I can see snow on the hill-tops, but none here - yet.

I did quite a bit of garden hacking today. Lots of shoots are appearing amidst last year's detritus,  which, as usual, did not get completely tidied up before the winter began.  Some people favour leaving it as protection for the plants sleeping below. I don't really subscribe to that view, but it's a handy defence when faced with visitors whose gardens are always tickety-boo.

Other than that, I did some piecing of the current P & Q class project, and spent a while trying to persuade Percy that the great outdoors is not as terrifying as he clearly thinks it is.  Putting his food bowl  on the drying green tempted him out, but he was still crunching his last mouthful as he bolted for the safety of the house. I think it will take a while to convince him.

Thanks to BikerBear for hosting the Flower Friday challenge, always a source of inspiration.