It's Springing!

I know we have a ways to go with winter yet, but all the signs are there.

My white mulberry tree sprouted leaves AND mini-berries overnight this weekend - and the "non-bearing" tree growing alongside it has berries too! Last year the birds didn't know what to make of white mulberries, so didn't eat them. I did. Wonder what they'll make of them this year. Wonder if the non-bearing tree is a black mulberry, and if it will look strange having both colour berries growing from one apparent stem (they're really close together, you can hardly tell they're different trees except by a slight change in leaf structure and the way the branches bear them).

Another tree on my walk-to-work had just leaves one day, and was covered in yellow blossoms (with bees) the next. The plum trees are shooting, the oxalis flowers covering fields in yellow and pink.

The pigeons are mating on my lawn...

My arums are producing masses of flowers, nearly 50 off a mere 10 or so bulbs. The roses are getting new little red leaves after their drastic trim 2 weeks back.

The sunbirds are out in force, sucking nectar from long orange flowers off native bulbs. The weavers have babies, sitting in the tree rattling their wings and shrieking for food. My shrike has disappeared - and I suspect she's on eggs.

The iris bulbs are showing the first blooms. The other bulbs are all up, leafy and spikey.

There's nothing like those little signs of spring to make your heart soar up and smile. Oh look - it's even spread to my face!