Spring is in the air!

A few weeks ago, I was wondering if spring could actually have sprung early this year. I was hopeful, but realistically, there was still a fair chance that winter would be back with a vengeance. After all, Mother Nature has a funny sense of humour.

But it didn't. No vengeance whatsoever. Spring is here, and it's here to stay. I'm not talking about this spring:

That obviously wasn't there to stay. It came off quite suddenly. I wasn't joking when I was writing about my previous car and wondered 'where did that spring come from?' It's not as serious as it looks, it's just a supporting spring to make operating the clutch easier. The car ran and (according to my neighbour who spotted it in town the other day) is still running fine without it.

The spring I'm talking about is the one responsible for what I call 'the haze'. In the earliest stage of spring, there's an abundance of flowers: the daffodils, the snowbells, the tulips... But for me spring really starts when the first leaves are showing themselves in the most beautiful shade of green imaginable.

Looking at some of the trees, you'd think you're still in the middle of winter:

But upon closer inspection of other trees, you can see that most of them are already sprouting new leaves:

These early leaves create a green haze on the forest. One day you think you might be imagining seeing shimmer of green, but the next day it's ever so slightly more obvious and then one day there's no denying: that is most definitely foliage!

Add a bit of sunshine to that, as well as awakening wildlife and there you are: perfect spring!

Girl Power!

I used to go swimming before work 4 times a week. But ever since I injured my shoulder at archery practice, I haven't been able to. The shoulder is practically healed and I really should drag myself out of bed at 6 am to go have a swim, but the bed is so nice and comfy, and it's dark outside, and, and, and... Too many excuses! But today in a magnificent display of willpower I managed to get up at an impossible hour and be in the swimming pool before 7 am. Now let's try and make a habit out of that again!

Explosion of flowers

A couple of years ago I found one of the most romantic spots I'd ever seen: a cute little park with blossoming trees. But of course I didn't have my camera with me. Every year after that, I arrived either too early or too late to take pictures, but this year I was perfectly on time. So behold the beauty of the blossom trees!

There you are, Perry!

Just in case the title wasn't self-explanatory:

Even though there is no recording of a god or goddess of patience in any religion, he or she must have shown mercy towards me (or simply gotten fed up with me) regardless of their non-existence: the delivery of the car actually got sped up, rather than delayed! At first I was told it would be here the 18th, then it got postponed to 1 or 2 weeks later, but lo and behold: it was there on the 13th! So without further ado: here's Perry!

And boy, is it shiny!! Love the seats, love the amount of buttons, love the way it handles in corners. The 88 page manual for the entertainment system seems a tad much, but then again: who reads manuals anyway? After all, I live by the old gnomish adage*:

So bring on the weekend, I need an excuse for a nice drive and a chance to mess with all those shiny new buttons. Methinks it's time for ice cream. From my favorite shop, which coincidentally happens to be on the other side of the country. Whiiiiieh!

* For those not in the possession of a gnomish dictionary: an adage (/ˈædɨdʒ/; Latin: adagium) is a short, usually philosophical, but memorable saying which holds some important fact of experience that is considered true by many people, or that has gained some credibility through its long memetic use. Now you know.

Hey, where's Perry?

The answer to the question "Where's Perry?" is: at the dealer's! Only a few more days until I get to pick up my new toy!

Ode to kittens

Not many words needed for this post. Heeeeeeeeeeeeeere kitty kitty kitty!!

Tijger

Poekie

 Belle

Muffy

Wammes

Gijs

Tux

 Pippin

Pino

Tommie

Could spring actually have sprung?

In October, I wanted to make an appointment to have my winter tyres fitted. But the weather was nice and the schedule busy, so I decided to postpone until November. Then out of nowhere it was December, and I realised I was still driving around on my summer tyres. They were rather new so there was a lot of profile on them and well, December is an expensive month and the weather was still very forgiving, so I decided I could sit it out a bit longer. But January came and went, February came and went and surprise-surprise: winter never showed up! There were two days where I had to de-ice the windshield, but that was pretty much it. No snow, drizzle, sleet, mud, torrential rain or anything!

It might still happen of course. Both March and April are notorious for their capriciousness, but I can't help but notice the days are lengthening nicely and that the spring flowers are popping up everywhere: daffodils, crocusses and snow drops (my favorite!) are bursting out of the ground and even the tulips are poking their leaves through the soil. The predictions for this weekend and all of next week are excellent, so I'm hoping that this year we'll just skip winter entirely and move straight on to spring. After all, Mother Nature owes us, for all the years where spring went straight on into fall without a decent summer.