Hellebores in early bloom, home

We actually stayed up late enough to see the ball drop last night, but because our festivities included only supermarket-bought egg nog... wait, holiday nog, since there's no longer any egg in the ready-made drink... and sparkling spring water—I guess we really have become old and boring... run-on, too—there were no alcoholic hangovers for the crew at the start of 2016. That was a positive, I suppose, because the health hangovers remain in residence and, alas, are likely to be carried over into a good part of 2016. We're trying to be upbeat, and as both a sign of the El Nino season and of possible upbeatness, the trekker-in-chief discovered these unexpected hellebores—call them New Year's Roses—making their way out of the leaf litter. Flowers in January are not all that unusual anymore—the same clump of hellebores was in bloom at the start of last year—but, to keep them out of harm's way, I'd better reward their daring with a large pile of protective mulch.