Coronavirus Days 31 – Happy Easter

As long as I live I will always remember Stacey’s first words on seeing me after five weeks.

“I need to pee like ten men.”

Awwwwwww.

Stacey made record time driving back from Florida. She stopped last night at a Hamptons Inn somewhere in Virginia. The roads were deserted, she reported, Washington D.C. a ghost town.

Is nice to have her home . It’s nice to have my car home too. Stacey did miss my coffee and cooking.

Kieran O’ Mahony tasked me with an excellent question on the phone yesterday. I’d like to share it with you other readers.

“I’m at a loss Karl. What’s your recommended approach to grooming Forsythia?”

Well Kieran, excellent question and indeed you’re not the first person faced with this dilemma. It really boils down to When and How much? I’ve taken the 20% in late Autumn approach – one favored by many gardening professionals. That is, you trim your plant back by a full fifth late October. As you can see from my lavish foliage it really works. Don’t be afraid of those clippers my friend. The forsythia is a resilient bugger.

Keep those questions coming Kieran. As an aside, this might be a good time to remove and store your Spring bulbs. Store in a cool corner of your shed or garage. A dry cardboard box is fine. Just make sure they’re not touching.

Kieran. thanks again for sharing the photos of your tulips , looks like you had a vibrant spring showing. Looking forward to seeing how your hydrangeas prosper.

Because it’s Easter I’m binging movies that feature rabbits. My kind of bunnies.

Fatal Attraction – Michael Douglas has a brief fling with an unhinged Glenn Close. Things get ugly very quickly with the spurned lover. Michael’s child has a lovely pet rabbit. If you’ve seen the film, you know how that works out. This controversial hit was the biggest grossing movie globally in 1987. New York looks great in it.

Sexy Beast – Gal Dove, a British gangster, comfortably retired in Spain, is needed back in London for one last job. Donny Logan, a psychotic Ben Kingsley, is sent to bring him back. Kingsley, who won an Oscar playing Gandhi, was also nominated for this. I get a certain twisted satisfaction hearing Gandhi swear in a cockney accent. There are a couple of bunnies make appearances in Sexy Beast. This movie gets my highest rating – I bought the original poster. One of my Rewatchables.

JoJo Rabbit – the 2019 winner for adapted screenplay follows a very young Hitler youth and his imaginary friend Hitler during the final days of WWII. One of the years best and not what you’d expect from the trailer.

Donnie Darko – in 1998 a sleepwalking teenager (Jake Gyllenhaal) is told by Frank, a giant demonic rabbit, that the end of the world is 28 days away. The film tracks those 28 days. This was a critical darling , box office failure and now a cult classic, having become a giant rental hit. It will keep you thinking. The trailer featured a crashing plane and was released October 2001, exceptionally bad timing.

Local Hero – I’ve recommended this previously but it must be included on the rabbit movie list. “It was a pet, not an animal. It had a name, you don’t eat things with names, this is horrific!” Enough said.

The bunny book to beat them all is Watership Down. This 1973 classic is the survival story of a group of rabbits forced to escape the destruction of their Warren for a new home. This is not a children’s novel.

Dad joke: What do you call a man with a rabbit stuck up his arse? Warren. (Thanks to Mark O ‘ Toole).

I have used 1.37 toilet rolls while here solo at the house, over almost five weeks now. I will continue to monitor and report.