Spring – just around the corner

Astronomically speaking today is the first day of winter. The weather people tend to regard winter as the three months of December, January and February but December 21^st is, for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, the shortest day – the winter solstice and that means the first day of official winter.

For us in the north, the hours of daylight will start to increase with effect from tomorrow. Spring might not be due to start, officially until March 21^st – when the whole, in theory, gets an equal amount of day and night.

But spring signs are already there. Yesterday I took a walk through my village churchyard and noted the first spring flowers in bloom.

Yes, a few celandines had come into bloom. At some point, next year, the churchyard will be carpeted with these little beauties but for now the few hardy blooms were enough to bring a smile to my face.

Tags: celandine, flower