Sure Signs of Spring

All week long I have been wandering around looking for the sure signs that spring is really on the way. I have my own signs that I look for every year. You know, natural things, certain plants popping up, that sort of thing.
Today I saw a couple things that made me know for certain, without a doubt, that spring has begun to sprung. First, the buds on the trees, the fruit trees to be exact, then there was the lizard, granted he was in the mouth of one sweet natured Ling Ling, but that is part of nature, like it or not. Then I noticed the most sure sign of all. Shepherds purse tiny and frail yet, but still there in the grass, tiny blossoms and those tender heart shaped leaves filled with the very thing to stop bleeding. Amazing stuff. Crush those tender juicy leaves on a cut and the bleeding stops instantly. We have used it for years on goats and on ourselves. I most always make a batch of tincture to take hiking with us too.
Shepherds always carry it in their purses and the leaves also looks like a tiny purses. I sat on the ground, Tuk tuk curled up by my leg, his black tail with its tip of white looking like he dipped it in a bucket of paint, wrapped around my foot. He was so cozy he stretched and stretched his razor sharp claws in my leg, no matter how often I told him that didn't feel very nice, he kept it up. Soothing to him maybe, but not to me.
While sitting on the tender grass, I could see so many wonders of nature. The Shepherds purse of course, but other things too, tiny plants of unknown variety. Old leaves, giving back to the soil and nourishing the new life. A bug, yes, a brave early one, venturing out to see if indeed the sun was that bright and warm. I saw the beginnings of fennel and mint, and mullein growing small furry leaves.
All these signs of spring made me know just one more important item that makes me excited enough to pass by the most expensive chocolates, and the finest cheeses. Yes, the very thing that only arrives in the early spring when the shepherds purse blooms......are you waiting to find out what it is....are you holding your breath ? It is one of my all time favorite things. I only indulge in two or three, sharing the rest with others..... those wonderful marshmallow like Easter candies that are like the orange circus peanuts. Never more than $1 for a bag, but I love them. The pink ones are the best. I carefully pulled the colored wrapper off the first one, taking a tiny bite, savoring each tiny morsel. Sweet beyond imagination....which is why I can only eat a couple of them and if the truth be told, I usually throw the rest away cause no one else wants them. I just really love them. In this package, the pink ones were bunnies, the yellow ones ducks and to be honest I have not been able to identify the white ones or the green ones. They look rather generic, like a bird, rabbit creature. I have had my fill, took their picture and shared the rest with the circular file in the kitchen. They are not even something I would feed my animals but once a year in some moment of madness, I have to have some. Memories of Easter baskets of long ago. So, its official, in Texas, spring has arrived, if only for the moment, as Shepherds purse and those hard pink marshmallow bunny things are in the stores !

Shepherds purse

Pear tree bud

Tuk Tuk, resting against my leg

The most certain sign of spring