The winter is always great fun. First you get Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night, and the dark sky is our best friend, a backdrop of stars while we’re out trick-and-treating, or filled with billowing smoke and fizzing rockets in all colours. The smell of baking potatoes hangs on the air, fried onions, spicy parkin – whatever delicious winter treats you have at your parties.

And November paves the way for Christmas. I love that magical time building up to Christmas Day, twinkling lights and buying presents, Slade playing everywhere you go, shop windows full of animated sparkling reindeers. I’m sad when it’s all over.

I suppose that’s a problem. From January 2^nd, once we’ve toasted the New Year and decided that we ought to vacuum up the mess and take down the decorations, it’s all a little bit deflating.

January kicks in and along comes the cold and the endless rain. I always try to make the most of it, pulling on wellies and a hood, going outdoors and squelching through mud. It ought to be uplifting, but there are only so many fireside stews in front of the TV you can tolerate.

I love sitting by the fire, but something in my soul gazes through the window and longs for spring to come. The first sight of snowdrops, crocuses, primroses then daffodils is so uplifting.

March is cold, windy, changeable. It promises sunshine then it whisks it away, but we aren’t put off because April is round the corner and we know what that means.

It means sunshine. Sitting outdoors. Breakfast in the open. Being out late and the air is still warm and the sky is still bright.

(It will rain sometimes – especially in the UK. But it’s spring. Then summer. And autumn is glorious.)

Something lifts in your spirit when the sun shines When the swallows weave about or the swifts return to their nests, when tulips nod and the grass grows fast and turns a vibrant emerald, it makes us happy.

The beach calls to us. We can sit up late into the evening with family and friends until darkness takes the last smudge of sunlight. The earth bakes and we feel revitalised again. Barbecues sizzle. Even the rivers are almost warm enough to paddle in. Bees buzz and blossom tumbles.

We don’t want to come indoors from the sunshine. We feel naturally happier.

So now spring is here, something has shifted. People seem to smile more; they are happier to linger to chat. Gone are the days where we all rush indoors hugging our coats and shivering. Spring is called spring for a reason. It makes us want to dance and shout with happiness.

So, welcome, April. Good things always start to happen at this time of year. In May, June, the summer is in full swing. And oh, those lazy, hazy, crazy days of July and August. Then September, when it always seems to get hot again just as the kids go back to school. It’s nature’s way of spreading hope.

(Ok, I know about global warming too, but the purpose of this blog is to spread some much-anticipated sunshine and warmth. Please bear with me…)

So – welcome to spring and summer. It’s good to see them back again. I hope they will bring happiness and joy, wherever you are. Here’s looking forward to many glorious days basking in the natural warmth and laughing, swimming in the sea, picnicking in the fields or lazing in a hammock reading a book. Whatever makes you happy.

The world is warm again, so I wish you three seasons of happiness before the winter returns and we all go back to the fireside, baking jacket potatoes and longing for April again.