... dan hatiku pun berbunga riang

Spring is here!!!  Goodbye dreary days, Hello sunshine!!!  Yes, spring time is such a big deal to me.  Coming from a tropical country where one gets lots and lots of sun, winter and the cold weather in this country can be pretty depressing. A friend recently confided that she may have suffered from the SAD syndrome when she first came to the UK in 2009.  SAD is Seasonal Affective Disorder, which as the name suggests, makes one SAD :P.

Daffodils in Tyndall Ave, Bristol

The first signs of spring are the daffodils of course.  Yeah, daffodils as in William Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"??  Can't remember the full poem except for the last two lines ...

and then my heart with pleasure fills

and dances with the daffodils

Sea of yellow daffodils everywhere.  I was tempted last spring to dig out some bulbs from the park and plant them in my garden.  Ada ka?!  Just found out that people have been fined for doing that!  Kah! Kah! Kah!

Other flowers will start sprouting after the daffs.  Some are considered 'flowers', while others are considered weeds, such as the dandelions that are abundant in my lawn (that shows what kind of gardener I have become now! Cringe!).  But, they do look nice to me.  Plus, you don't have to plant them.  It just pops out! :)

Spring is also the start of carboot sale!  First heard about this wonderful flea market from K. Rose of  Dior Grande, Pilahdelphia * back in 1994.  Still remembered her, strutting noisily along the corridors of SMTJ in her checkered English trench-coat, her betis dijulurkan lebih sikit from her black pencil skirt (much to the disapproval of the ustazah), to reveal cute kitten-heeled Gucci boots.  And when I complimented her to-die-for boots, she asked:

"Reen, cuba teka berapa harga boots ni??" in her thick Nogori dialect.  

I remembered gaping in disbelieve at the price. 

"Betul... beli kat carboot Bristol", she grinned. 

Pix of a carboot sale by Mark Murphy

Carboot as in the back of the car??  Well, maybe in some places, I don't know.  But the ones that I have been to, are held in large open spaces such as in the picture above.  Normally carboot sale starts in the morning and ends in the afternoon.  Sellers normally sell their unwanted goods for a small price.  I normally pay from 50 p to 2 pounds for carboot items.  Anything more than 2 pounds - bargain time! :D

Carboots are for bargain hunters.  Sometimes, you do find branded items (like K. Rose's Gucci boots!) - second-hand, but otherwise in mint condition .   With my limited budget, brand-new designer items seem light years away, but then again, I'll settle for vintage, anyway! :)

One person's junk is another's treasure! :P

... dan hatiku pun berbunga riang :D **



* Kg Dioh Besar, Kuala Pilah
** translation from Wordsworth??  ... and then my heart with pleasure fills :)