Violets

 How did Victorian flower sellers sell bunches of violets " Vi'lets, Sweet Vi'lets,  Luv'ly Vi'lets" ?

 It would take an age to pick a nosegay of these tiny flowers and the stems are so fragile - how were they bunched?

And what is the difference between Dog Violet (Viola riviniana) and Sweet Violet(Viola ododrata)?

And which of the two are this year growing well on the bank just along the road from home or are they the result of  hybridisation and not how violets would have been 100 years ago?

I don't think these violets have any scent. Impossible to check properly, and, as they are by the road they are more likely to smell of car fumes or dog wee!

The Romans made wine from violets and used a wreath of the flowers to cure insomnia, gout and wounds.

When I was young violets were common  in the lanes near home, but certainly not so profuse as these here, we used to pick some to put in a meat paste jar, but we always looked out for white violets  that were more unusual to see.

Nowadays they could be crystallised to use for a cake decoration, something I don't have the patience or enthusiasm to try!

Crime on TV

 I read crime fiction and I watch crime fiction on TV but thankfully I don't think I've ever committed a crime! Although driving home from the coast after the Opticians last week I took a different route to avoid a road closure and came across a speed detection van - I was probably driving over 30mph, not by much although even 31mph counts as speeding and there was a car in front of me - I've got my fingers crossed. Colin used to say "they can see you long before you see them", he spent all his time driving and never drove over the speed limit, never got points on his licence, or fined or had to do a speed awareness course and he often told me off when I moaned about 30mph limits in places that didn't need them!...Or more accurately where I didn't think they were needed!

I'm remembering him especially today as it would have been his 69th birthday. It still seems all wrong to me that some people die aged just 61.

Crime on TV is a new series of 'The Capture' on BBC starring Holly Grainger. I know I watched some of the previous series but couldn't remember much about it, so I checked them  out.......Oh yes, it was that weird thing about Deep Fake - very violent. HG is also filming a new series of Strike coming later this year and there will be a return of the twisting turning Line of Duty  but maybe not until 2027.

On ITV Forgotten comes back sometime and the 26th series of Midsomer Murders although I've not watched series 25 yet, it doesn't seem to be on ITV X.

Ellis season 2 on Channel 5 started yesterday.

The 29th series of Silent Witness has finished, I think it was good but not as good as in the past and the set up of Jack in prison seemed a bit odd.

On the free U channel there's a new series of Bergerac and The Marlow Murder Club coming up. Plus there are lots of crime series from abroad with subtitles on the World Drama, Walter Presents section on the 4 catch up channel.

I found a huge list HERE although a lot don't have definite dates and some are not on free TV.

It's not just crime that I like............... I watch some sport and quizzes too! (but never soaps, true crime, wildlife stuff or period dramas).

Possible Spring Reading?

The pages that introduce the Spring part of The Country Commonplace Book by Miranda Mills. 

And above is another page from the same book . There are several similar pages through the book with ideas for reading at various times of the year. I'll share more as the year progresses.

Out of the 6 listed, I have a copy of 'Rain' by Melissa Harrison - found at one of the second-hand book sales last Autumn and I've read The Lark by E. Nesbit - one of her adult books that Dean Street Press/Furrowed Middlebrow reprinted in 2017 although I didn't keep it as it was a very light romance type book. The library had ' The Place of Tides' by James Rebanks (who also wrote the bestseller 'The Shepherds Life'), so I  reserved a copy, which arrived last week. I looked up details of the others but they don't appeal - is 'Darling' an updated version of 'The Pursuit of Love'? Sounds like it.