Flowers make me happy. This is a pretty obvious statement from someone who has decided to put a lot of effort into always having a bunch of flowers in the house, but then flowers really, really do make me happy.

The neighbours a few doors down kindly allowed me to cut some branches off their winter flowering cherry. You've probably spotted them already in the streets while cycling or walking. The trees are still bare of leaves but full with tiny flowers giving it an overall pink impression. And look at how perfect those miniature flowers are. 

Strolling through the garden in search of flowers and branches to compliment the blossom, I noticed the first snow drops and saw that the winter aconites are protruding their yellow heads through the grass. One primula vulgaris is already in bloom, obviously slightly ahead of itself and a few of the tiny flowers of Daphne Odora (Daphne odora Aureomarginata) have opened. You wouldn't pay much attention to them as they are small and few. However, their magnificent scent makes fully up for their size. In the vegetable garden the first rhubarb leaves are showing and while writing I am craving stewed rhubarb with custard. Only a few more weeks ...

While spring is obviously on its way, some flowers have never stopped. The Cape Daisies (Osteospermum) are not as vigorously in bloom as they were this summer, but they keeps producing some buds which I picked. The Golden Celebration rose bush gave me one flower worth picking and before I went back into the house, I also cut  two small branches of the Daphne bush (pictured below) as well as some rosemary, which is not only great in terms of scent but also provides wonderful foliage. 

With the rose I revamped last week's bunch of flowers and with the rest I made this week's bunch. I'm not a professional photographer and I take pictures with my phone, in my house and garden, so they are not perfect, and neither are the flowers. Some leaves have some brown blotches, but to be honest with you I really don't care. Beautiful flowers like the ones I picked today tell me that there is always beauty, that nature gets on with things regardless of what injustice and bad things happen in the world, or how busy and complicated my own life sometimes can be. 

Flowers make me happy. I smile every time I take a look at the vases in my house and I hope you do too when you see my not-perfect pictures.

Ps In case you are wondering, I have promised the neighbours a summer bunch of flowers in return, so I am sticking to my rules!