Daphne mezereum

It's that time of year when I go searching just off the edge of the garden for the half-wild shrub Daphne mezereum. It's the first flower (or at least bud) to appear in our garden, beating even the more traditional snowdrop.  Some years I find it as early as 17 March though it rarely flowers fully until mid April or even May.
Eventually I found it sticking out of the hard snow but the buds are small and look a fair way from flowering. This cold spring is retarding them which is probably a good thing as there are precious few insects out and about to pollinate them.
As promised, the sun shone and I managed to find a sheltered corner where it was warm enough to sit and read and drink a cup of tea. Warm enough as long as you were wearing a down jacket that is. Since I still don't have the oomph to actually go for a walk I'll settle for sitting out in the sun and rereading Richard Fortey's "The Earth", a book that serendipitously appeared in case our recent visitors were interested. I picked it up and glanced at the first few pages. I remembered how much I'd enjoyed reading it 18 years ago, and was soon deep in the geological history of the Bay of Naples, actually a volcanic caldera in the relatively recent past. I don't think I'd choose to visit the area if there were ongoing signs of restlessness...
The granites and gneisses of mid-Sweden are reassuringly stable.