Last Day of Winter, First Day of Spring -- yaaaaay!

Hiya

Spring is here in earnest -- mind you, as I type these lines on Monday, 22nd March, the air outside is filled with the swishing of the wind and the rushing of rain and water in the burn, punctuated by the high-pitched screams of seagulls that sometimes sound so like a tiny baby's cry. No matter, we celebrated spring and I want to share some of the colours I captured on the last day of winter and first day of spring.

Particularly chuffed to see these primroses spring up again -- they were rescue plants last year, bought very, very cheaply from one of the garden centres in Oban.

Wee daffies -- asphodels? -- that have come back at the foot of our house. Lovely splash of yellow.

One periwinkle blossom -- a stray plant that seeded off a tangle that has grown rather wild across the path. It lives right above the spray of daffies shown above.

The humble daisy, but oh so perfect.

Another clump of rescue primroses bought very, very cheaply last year from one of the garden centres in Oban. So pleased they've come back.

A white tulip from a bouquet in a vase at my friend's house.

A Swedish-style Easter tree. Only one more week to go!

Daffy spectacular -- these are store-bought ones in a vase at my friend's house.

... and another, much bigger flood event on Oct 23...

Well, it was to be expected, wasn't it, what with all the rain coming this way from across the Atlantic and us being so close to the sea with mountains behind, so this "orographic" rainfall is chundering down on us. Fascinating to a newbie like myself as the rain here is so very different from the rain in Bern, Switzerland. Not cold, not harsh, except when it's driven into your face by a strong gust...
Anyway, I woke very early this morning and took this photo (just before 5AM):
My new camera has come in handy as it can compensate for lack of lighting, at least up to a point. I am still learning to use it, so some of the colours are not right.
In the daylight, the view was even starker -- this is from my kitchen window, taken at about 11AM:By about 12:40PM, the water had receded a bit, not because the rain had let up but because the fence that runs at a right angle from the stream has given way in one strategic point, which allows some of the overflow to take the straight course across the lane, through the metal fence and into the car park beyond.
Elsewhere, too, there were floods -- the road from Glasgow to Oban was flooded in many places, making for dangerous travel, and locally some car parks had geysers in them:
And today, we have sun, hail, wind, calm, rain -- everything in quick succession, making for some stunning views: