Still Chilly!

It's April, but it feels like November. We shiver. We add another fleece. We look with disdain at the cold radiators (the government regulated heat was shut off last weekend.) We wait longingly for Spring to arrive. Spring is certainly late this year.

We brought in cherry blossoms and forced them to bloom (soaking them in bucket of warm water overnight, and then gave them 24 hour to open inside.) They are beautiful. But we have to wait for the reluctant buds outside to unfurl their delicate petals. It's simply too cold for them to want to open.

We are thrilled, despite the weather, to have my parent's with us for about a week. We're huddling inside cold restaurants with our jackets on. We're drinking lots of hot water and tea. We are enjoying being together. And even if they don't get to see Qingdao's famous cherry blossoms in bloom, they get to spend time with their three granddaughters, and when we live half a globe away that's enough for all of us!