If winter comes, can spring be far behind?

I mentioned last week. . . At least, I think it was last week. Anyway, whenever it was, I mentioned that the blackbirds had joined the chorus of robins in the park in the mornings. Now the song thrushes have joined in as well and the small wood we walk through every day has become quite noisy. There are snowdrops growing in the woods in two places but although the shoots are well up, there is as yet no sign of the blooms themselves. Unlike Kay's snowdrops. Kay lived in a bungalow across and just down the road from us. She was a delightful lady who adored the cat we had then but both she and the cat have been dead for several years. All the same, we still refer to Kay's bungalow and, by extension, the snowdrops growing in a corner of the garden are Kay's snowdrops. They are of a variety which blooms early and have been in flower for a couple of weeks. Unlike Tony's wife's daffodils, which he says were in bloom before Christmas. Like Kay, Tony's wife died some years back. She had planted early-blooming daffodil bulbs in the triangle of grass at the road junction outside their house. Tony adds a few bulbs each year in her memory.

It doesn't matter what time of year it is, there will always be gorse in bloom - and indeed there is on the Roman Camp. Equally, marigolds can bloom at all times of the year and we have several of these bright orange flowers in the garden. We also have a few grape hyacinths trying bravely to bloom as well as the first pale mauve crocuses. I did see yellow crocuses in the verge as I drove down Ditchling Road yesterday although the great swathes of them planted by the council have still to come through.

It was about this time last year that we were under a foot or so of snow and I was unable to get the car out for a week. What a difference this year! Of course, the plant life wouldn't suffer much under a blanket of snow but I just hope we don't get any sharp frosts.

It is even noticeable that the mornings get light earlier now. Perhaps spring is on its way.