First leaves

Every year we eagerly await the first buds on the vine in the conservatory and then the first leaves emerging.

This has been a cold winter (for Scotland at least) and the buds were a bit later in coming.  But came they did and this week the first leaves have started to appear too though today their backdrop was occasional snow showers. 

None the less they are a certain indicator that spring and summer are, inexorably if slowly, on their way.