Spring

I can see this tree from my office window. When we first moved here it was a little sapling; now it reaches our first floor windows. I don't know what it is, although it's obviously related to plum/cherry/almond (without the fruit unfortunately). Once the blossom starts to come out, I know spring is really here. Unlike the almond trees, the leaves come out at the same time as the blossoms. The contrast between the pale flowers and the deep red leaves is lovely, and even after the blossom has gone the leaves provide a splash of colour for most of the year.

I must have taken a dozen shots of this particular spray of blossom, including some that had blue sky in them! But I decided in the end to choose the grey concrete background for my blip, as a contrast to all my other blossom blips. Want some blue sky? Have a look at chaiselongue's blip for today!