You Know It's Spring When...

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On my wander down to the village outreach Post Office facility (the mobile pop up that visits on Friday afternoons) today, I was suddenly aware of animal noises in the field on the opposite side of the road. Looking up, I realised it was a flock of sheep huddled together in a sheltered corner, presumably to avoid the worst of the afternoon's drizzle, baaing loudly in an apparent attempt to protect their new born lambs. As my diet is currently very much pescatarian, I am uncertain why I was viewed as such a potential threat. I'm also unsure whether it was the exploits of the little lambs, the sound from their mothers or the realisation that spring is now very much here that brought a smile to my face.

Of course, the pinpointers of spring are all around us, whether it be the daffodils (albeit slightly later than recent years); the brave souls I've started to spot in T shirts and even shorts, or the strange urge to dust furniture and clean windows.  Mister E has had the ladders out to clear the gutters; the cars have been serviced and hot soup is gradually being replaced by salad at lunchtimes.

Seedlings are being nurtured; potatoes are chitting ready for planting out in due course; evenings are lighter even without the coming change in the clocks, and the annual notice of a change in tax coding has arrived.

However, it was whilst driving home from my mother's this morning that I truly recognised the real harbinger of springtime: all those council workers in hard hats and fluorescent coats, mending roads and clearing ditches whilst their temporary traffic lights created havoc for road users! I guess we'll know it's summer when they start laying tarmac.

 

 

Comments

Treaders said…
Those lambs are beautiful aren't they. When I was living in the US we came back to England to visit my family, and then drove up to North Wales to visit the other side of my family. I was AMAZED at how green it was (well I guess all that rain has some benefits) and seeing the lambs standing on their mother's backs just brought me so much joy I could even forgive the rotten weather!
19 March 2021 at 17:33
Caree Risover said…
I have a friend from the Far East who told me that the thing that most excited her about visiting England was seeing “sheeps” for the first time. I hardly notice them most of the year, but with small lambs about that always changes.
20 March 2021 at 08:11
Mona McGinnis said…
Harbingers of spring are so welcome after the winter months - geese, pussy willows, new calves.
20 March 2021 at 12:36
Caree Risover said…
Particularly welcome this year after a cold, dark winter has imposed for far too long
20 March 2021 at 13:11
Jeanette Lewis said…
When we lived in Toronto, many joked about the year having only two seasons: winter and construction. It seems that the 'construction' season happens everywhere in the world!
23 March 2021 at 04:00
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