Spring is coming !!!!!!!!!

I went down to Ashburton over night. Its always fun to spend time with my little granddaughters..... This morning my daughter went out to do some 'training'. She has been talked into doing a "Spring Challenge"- running(orienteering), rafting and cycling somewhere up the top of the Rakaia. She is not a gym bunny...but tries. While she and her colleague went for a run along the bank of the Ashburton River, I took Elsa for a wander. Much to my delight I found this 'Pussy Willow" nearly out.....how exciting.
Pussy willow is a name given to many of the smaller species of the genus Salix (willows and sallows) when their furry catkins are young in early spring. These species include Goat willow , Grey willow or American pussy willow .
Before the male catkins of these species come into full flower they are covered in fine, greyish fur, leading to a fancied likeness to tiny cats, also known as "pussies". The catkins appear long before the leaves, and are one of the earliest signs of spring. At other times of year trees of most of these species are usually known by their ordinary names.
So we can be confident that Spring is on its way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!