The good thing about old and tatty horse chestnut candles is that they'll result in conkers later in the year; and seriously - is there much in nature more satisfying than a shiny conker?
When I was little, as well as having conker fights (I could never make head or tail of the rules but I liked the challenge of skewering them without sticking a screwdriver through my hand and swinging them round on strings) I'd cut them in half to make little cups for my dolls. I hated dolls but they provided an excuse for hacking away and getting my fingers stained. (The word 'half' there is used loosely. 'Chipped into bits' is a closer description.
Conkers are a long way off yet.
But perhaps many of us are feeling the same about our trees. Oak flowers will turn to acorns. (Hang on; what do oak flowers look like?) And those following fruit trees will be looking beyond those petals which have been flung all over the place by the wind - and planning what to do with all those apples and medlar and quinces. (Perhaps with fingers crossed!)
So I'm expecting that now, after a few months of not enough happening, a whole season is likely to have gone over in a month. We'll see!
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