Confusing Mother's Day, TED, and the Commander...........

Mother's Day doesn't happen in the UK in May. It happens in March. If you spend your entire life here, then that is no problem, but if, like me, you spend it in two places on earth, then things feel rather odd. For the first 35 years of my life, Mother's Day was in May. Since then, it has been in March. However, when your sister is in the May camp (Switzerland) and your daughter has spent 7 years of her life in New Zealand (May), then things get a bit mixed up.

So, yesterday, because Mum is here with me, my sister asked me to take her out to tea, for a Swiss Mother's Day. And so I did. (She has already had a British one with me.)(In March.) We crossed the valley (that sounds like Little House on the Prairie) and wandered through the countryside, to another wonderful garden centre, where we headed first for the coffee shop, and enjoyed fruit scones for tea and conversation. That was very British, and delicious too. And then I looked at the plants.

This is where this year differs from every other year in recent memory, because I have not bought anything for the garden. Not until yesterday. I was restrained. I just got 2 bacopa plants. The rest will come out of the greenhouses. I normally get plug plants and pot them on for the 14 hanging baskets. This is the frugal year. But I am quite sure it will all look wonderful when it is done. Sort of. It will work.

Anyway. My greenhouses are overflowing. This is a good sign. The fact that I am in a fleece over a jumper and with woolly socks on the feet is not good. There are jeans involved too, let me hasten to add.

Onto a totally different subject now. Do you listen to the TED talks? This one by Daphne Koller is absolutely fascinating, and has the power to transform education, and it is all free. Just amazing. Coursera. Go and scroll through the list of courses. I have seen a couple I would really love to do, and there is nothing stopping me at all. One of their ideas is to fuel life-long learning, and I am so ready for this. If you are new to TED, then go and wander through the talks and settle back and listen. They have a way of igniting the mind, and that is always good. This talk by Rita Pierson is wonderful too.

I could go on listing more but you will find the ones that you want to listen to when you start wandering around. Always supposing you haven't been doing so already. I just haven't seen people talking about them here in the world of blogs, so thought I would mention them. Fascinating. Fabulous. Thought-provoking. Excellent.

Oh, I do love the Internet. So much to learn. So much to see. AND to top it all, you HAVE to watch THIS, if you haven't already seen it on Facebook, Twitter or on your news programmes. One man has single-handedly rekindled interest  in space around the globe. Commander Chris Hadfield. Commander, until tonight, of the Space Station. Even David Bowie is impressed.

I grew up in the Bowie era. I remember the song so well from my youth. But this is just a wonderful version. A) the voice. B) the words and C) the view. Enjoy!

Diana is cooking supper. I may take another photo.