Keeping Me Contented

Published Tuesday, January 08, 2008 by Chris | E-mail this post

“But what held his [Hornblower’s] attention most was two long boxes against the great stern windows. They were filled with earth and were planted with flowers__ hyacinths and daffodils, blooming and lovely. The scent of the hyacinths reached Hornblower’s nostrils where he sat. There was something fantastically charming about them here at sea.

“I’ve been successful with my bulbs this year,” said Collingwood, putting his letters in his pocket and following Hornblower’s glance. He walked over and tilted up a daffodil bloom with sensitive fingers, looking down into its open face. “They are beautiful, aren’t they? Soon the daffodils will be flowering in England—sometime perhaps I’ll see them again. Meanwhile these help to keep me contented. It is three years since I last set foot on land.”

An excerpt from the Horatio Hornblower series "Hornblower and the Atropos."

It warmed up in Texas, and perhaps that was the reason these beautiful pink hyacinths are blooming. The fragrance is of course magnificent and the blooms spectacular.

And if any one is curious why I have not been blogging as much, this is what happens every time I sit down. It was taken without my permission while at a friends home, but I suppose I will allow it to go onto the website.