Looking back

This week I have sat in the sun enjoying a cup of coffee al fresco, admired the daffodils at their peak, been astounded by the number of violets in bloom, marvelled at the almost acrylic yellow of the celandines and stood still for minutes to enjoy being serenaded by a song thrush.  On Wednesday, the temperature as measured by my in-car thermometer hit 20 degrees and it was still 18 yesterday afternoon.

This week last year I was trekking through deep snow to the supermarket, the road outside our house being impassable.  According to the Beeb, "Freezing temperatures in March [2013] made it the UK's joint second coldest since records began more than 100 years ago, the Met Office has said".  They went on to report, "Average temperatures across the UK are set to reach 7C to 8C (44F to 46F) on Saturday and 9C (48F) on Sunday.  By next week they should be back to normal for April at about 11C (51F)."


I'm not sure what these little blue flowers are - chionodoxa, perhaps (glory of the snow) - that are in bloom in the park this week.