The weather has been a topic of conversation for a couple of months. There is quite a lot of complaining in a person’s daily travels. I took a couple of trips up-Island this week, and honestly it is a bit alarming to see all the trees downed by our recent storms. Many are not even down but rather dangling precariously into each other. Many are split right down the middle.

I suppose it wouldn’t look so terrible if there was any green to be seen anywhere.

My friend Marie and Abby Burt both sent me out to hopefully identify a couple of pink bushes — one on Middle Road opposite the Keith Farm and the other on Mt. Aldworth Road in Vineyard Haven across from the Doctor’s House. I think they are the deciduous azalea Exbury. I’m not sure of the cultivar. I know the plant in both yellow and orange but have not seen it in such a lovely pink. Anyone in the know?

It is worth a trip up to Beetlebung Corner to enjoy the Larsens’ daffodils. I have bad luck with daffodils. I have planted bushels over the years and have a few measly patches, so I tend to covet those giant swaths on other properties.

There is a fabulous star magnolia at the Olsens in North Tisbury. It has just begun to bloom. Also there is a nice one at the Hebrew Center.

I spotted a few dandelions in my vegetable garden. I’m fond of them — they are so cheerful. I never know why people seem to loathe them. Guess that’s why there are horse races. We all bet on different ones!

I may have jumped the gun. I transplanted out some collards, beets and spigarello and they took a beating from the wind and rain over the weekend. I think they will live but it won’t be easy for them.

I am beginning to dread my trips to the post office. Trees and bushes are beginning to arrive and I do not recall placing orders. This is what happens on those lazy dream-filled January days when a catalogue and credit card are handy. In my defense, I do stay off the internet.

It is a bit late but I did some pruning of blueberries. I think it’s supposed to happen in late February, but hey it’s cold enough. I took out a ton of dead wood and branches rubbing on each other. I hit them with a cup or so of pro-holly and cozied some aged woodchips up around each one. Why I bother is beyond me. I seldom get netting on in a timely fashion and lose most of them to birds.

I have one large strawberry plant in the greenhouse. It is covered with blossoms and even a few minuscule berries. It’s well worth the effort to grow them. They do not produce runners and can stay in one place for years. They produce all summer right up until frost and are wonderful. They never make it into the house. We just eat them as we pick. I grew them from seed years ago.

It’s fun to see people out and about painting storefronts, raking winter debris, hauling out the outdoor furniture and looking forward to another season. Before we know it the onslaught will begin. There won’t be a parking space until October.

It’s impossible to keep up with the news. Good riddance to Paul Ryan. He supposedly was the poster boy for fiscal conservatism and is leaving us with a huge deficit not to mention he seems unable to stand for anything.

Then the crazy reveal that the secret client of Michael Cohen is Sean Hannity. I swear you cannot make this stuff up.

I’ve been spending a lot more time reading lately. I highly recommend Educated by Tara Westover. I literally could not put it down. I read it in one night — finally closed it at 4 a.m. I’m a nut case.

I just started The Threat Matrix about the FBI. It begins with Robert Mueller’s first week on the job as George W. Bush’s FBI chief, then 911 happened. I can tell it’s a thriller; book reports to follow.

Madeleine Albright’s Fascism is on the nightstand at the ready.