Spring is here?

I wish I could have phrased the title as more of a statement than a query. Whilst the weather is, undoubtedly, milder than it has been (not hard) and whilst I have spotted snowdrops (in abundance) crocii and daffodils all over the place, it still isn't feeling very springy. I'm not sure what I'm waiting for, to be honest - baby lambies? Primroses? Days warm enough to leave my coat at home? Easter? Who knows. I've seen catkins and pussy willows and, like I said, more snowdrops than I have ever seen in my life (photos to follow when we get a nice enough day to go and photograph them) but it still feels very much like winter here.

OK - I closed my eyes and really thought about it and realised what it was - all the trees and hedges are naked! We need some leaves. I love that first, luminous verdance where the trees look as if they've been dusted with the brightest, freshest green powder and not really like leaves at all. At the moment they're all bare and barren, their angular branches twisting and pointing rather than the fluffy sway the whole tree seems to undergo when the wind blows through leaves and sends them shimmering.

Then, once the leaves are through, you have the unbridled joy of blossom. It's one of the things I remember about my childhood in the London suburbs. By the time my birthday came round in late March every road would be a blossom-lined avenue - from the pink-tinged almond blossom to the fluffy candy pink of double cherry blossom and the white or shocking pink of the Horse chestnut candles, which had a particular charm all their own... At the moment the only nature-sprung colour I can see is the cheery red and yellow parrot striped tulips my beloved bought me for Valentine's Day - outside all is greys, browns and the winter-dulled dark green of water-logged grass and ivy.

Bring on the Spring! I'm ready and waiting :-D