Spring approaching?

At Last! Today I was able to go out for a good walk for the first time in about two weeks without slipping and sliding everywhere so as I needed a couple of large, bulky but light items from Wilkinsons, I decided to take the 'pretty' route to the shops across Castle Park.
The weather was dry and cloudy but the sun was making a few futile attempts to break through the veil of cloud, which almost had a few broken patches, but in the wrong places and the temperature was fairly mild compared to that of late.
Walking towards the park, the first clues that spring might not be too far away were the mahonia shrubs on the car park of a large homeware store. The flowers are just beginning to show the first faint signs of lemon yellow and I think that by next week the flowers could well be open if the weather stays this way. The willow catkin buds also looked decidedly fatter than the last time I really looked at them so I am living in hopes.
When I got to the park, I could hear a robin who was really singing for all he was worth and there were blue tits and chaffinches also flitting between the trees and calling to each other. There are a couple of prunus trees which already have some blossom but these are always the first to flower so they are really the true harbingers of spring. As I walked up to the church ruins even the soil smelled different and full of promise and there was a pair of blackbirds busily turning over the leaves under the hedge. All of these signs and sounds filled me with hope that soon winter would be forgotten about as all the trees and plants go through the most amazing transformation.
When I got home, I couldn't resist going out into my little back yard/garden to see if anything was beginning to wake up and show that spring was coming but alas, as the garden gets very little sun through the winter anyway, I wasn't too disappointed.
But now there are only a couple of weeks left of January I know I won't have to wait for long before things really start to happen.