Is this really spring?

Yes it is!
The view from Claire's main room, looking towards the sea, show the overnight snow and looks very wintry but the swans and Canada geese have arrived, temperatures shift around between 0° (today) and 10°C (Tuesday) and the days are 15/16 hours long.
Driving home, about 4 km from our village, we passed a field where maybe 30 cranes, a similar number of geese and two swans were all busily hoovering up anything edible. They all seemed to have had enough of flying north into a snowstorm and a northerly wind, and were waiting for the weather to improve.  I guess there is safety in numbers and that is why all these different migrants had landed in just that field.
Tomorrow the sun is due to shine and the wind is from the SW so they'll all be on their way again.
You'll maybe notice Rusty having a morning run in the garden. Later in the day we would all go for a walk which would end badly for me. However, apart from a little swelling and a very sore nose I am now recovered.