Scorpion Winter.

Spring is a tease this year.

After what seemed never-ending days, weeks, months of grey, wet and cold weather, last Monday sunshine finally arrived - and just in time for friends who were visiting from Monday evening until Thursday morning.  They appreciated the change, having come directly from visiting some of their other friends in Switzerland where it rained the whole time they were there.

Throughout their stay with us, the sky was blue letting very warm sunshine into our lives.  We revelled in it as our spirits lifted. 

Although they were only here for two full days, we were able to show them some parts of this beautiful area which really looked its best with carpets of wild flowers and bushes and trees in bloom below a brilliant blue sky.

On Friday, the sky was overcast.  Today, Saturday, we woke to the remains of overnight rain, drizzle all morning and a very cold wind this afternoon.  A local lady told me we can expect snow tomorrow!

We are very grateful we were blessed with such brilliant weather for our visitors but it looks as if we again can expect a Scorpion Winter - one with a sting in its tail.

In search of blossom...

Over the past few weeks I have been contained mostly indoors at home or at the hospital by not only two patients in the house but too many grey, cold, wet days.  Today I couldn’t resist the call of blue sky and  sunshine and went just for a short stroll with camera at the ready to capture the blossoms that caught my eye…

Tiny pink flowers among the red leaves.

Flowers on a laurel hedge were a magnet for bees.

Like me, daisies raise their faces to the sun.

Flower boxes surround the Pharmacie shop and car park.

Paper flowers in the Pharmacie window.

…my eyes were not disappointed.

The sunshine warmed me but a light breeze from the south soothed my brow.

To my ears’ delight I heard the happy chirping of sparrows, the buzz of bees and a blackbird’s beautiful song.

My mind calmed and my spirits lifted.

What a wondrous tonic is nature, particularly in springtime.

Chasing the ball.

This haiku was chosen by poetry moderators as Pick of the Month for March 2016 in the Haiku Forum on Writers' Dock. 

a night owl not a lark
but when family calls
I rise and sing

It succinctly sums up the start of each day for the past weeks as nurses come to our house every morning to attend to the now two patients in the house - my husband, recovering from a knee operation and our daughter who has been suffering for about two years now with ulcerated legs and oedema, which has caused her to be admitted to hospital on several occasions and needing daily nursing care when at home.  Her husband often has to go to the UK now regarding their new business there, they having sold the business that brought us all to France ten years ago. 

Life often throws curved balls and all we can do is to follow those curves as we race to catch the ball.