Signs of Spring

Major purchase at this morning's market

It's not yet Saint Valentine's Day and already spring is creeping into the markets.  I got fresh spinach this morning.  Artichokes--sold in bouquets sometimes--are loading down the tables at the vendors' stalls.  The occasional stalk of asparagus makes an appearance.  Can the Spanish-French strawberry wars be far behind?  But the surest sign, for me, was the vendor selling bunches of daffodils.  I could not resist that happy yellowness. 

After a couple days of rain, the sun has made a glorious reappearance this noontime.  There's some wind coming as well, but nothing like what they are experiencing up in Brittany and Normandy.  Gusts there up to 147 kph...that's sort of like a hurricane.  But here in Le Grand Sud, skies are clearing (for now) and temperatures in Perpignan, a little southeast of here along the coast are expected to be nearly 70 today.  

Finally, a red purse.  A good one at a very good sale price.

This little taste of weather to come is beckoning me outside.  I have been cooped up for a week and a half with a nasty cold, and the need for a walk is overpowering me.  I think I'll pack a picnic, a thermos of coffee and see what's peeking out from winter's skirts.

Happy yellow petticoats