Sssshhh...

The tree in our building's courtyard has started to come alive. It's been a long time coming; it remained bare and leafless until only a week ago. F and I would look out from our window and wonder why it was taking so long. But these things just cannot be rushed. Those leaves need to take their sweet time. I took a photo of the tree the moment I spotted its first leaves. I had to zoom in real close, they were rather tiny. This (above) was taken sometime late last week.

Now here is what the tree looks like today (below), after all the sunshine we enjoyed in Berlin over the weekend. Its leaves sprung out almost overnight and turned a loud, riotous green.

Other miracles are quietly unfolding. Over the Easter holidays, F and I visited his parents and we joined them to a garden festival at Schloss Ippenburg, a castle in Bad Essen. Despite my doubts in my ability to sustain living things, I refused to leave the exhibition grounds without a plant. F and I decided on some yellow dwarf roses - and you know how I love roses - and we replanted them in our window sill back in Berlin. Three weeks later, look what we've got here.
Several other blooms join this little one. I am resisting giving them names. And so it is that today I've learned I am merely horrible at pots of basil. I am better suited to nourish roses.