Makes Me Happy 1

Coltsfoot in flower February 20 2005

This is definitely up there as one of the top things that makes me feel happy. Out for a walk yesterday in the Hope Valley, Shropshire. A cold day, but the sun was shining. In the car park dozens of bright yellow Coltsfoot flowers were pushing up through the stones. A marvellous early sign of spring. My lonely walk (no one came with me today) was transformed. These flowers, reminiscent of dandelions, but with lovely deep reddish bracts, send their scaly flower stems up before their first leaves appear. I always feel uplifted at the sight of my first of the season Coltsfoot flowers. Spring is coming.