Winter seems to be over

The next 9 days are forecast to be in the 70s and 80s here. The last few days have been, as well.





Don't ask me what kind of plant these buds these are from... I vaguely recall having taken a photo of the plant at another time of the year, but it would take some searching to find it.

LED light strand mystery

Before xmas last year, I put up a new multi-colored xmas light strand at Qiao's house. It's the simple kind; it doesn't flash or blink or change colors. A few weeks ago, I noticed that 2 of the bulbs, fairly close to the end... the 9th and 10th ones from the plug, to be exact... were out. Every now and then, I see those same 2 bulbs turn back on for a while, or flicker in unison as if they are on a different circuit than all the other bulbs. The other 98 bulbs on the strand stay on steady. The strand itself is motionless the whole time. What could cause just 2 of the bulbs to flicker like that?