Our stone fruit trees are in bloom (above a detail of the Prunus persica just outside Le Rose's front door), our olive grove is crowded with cuttings, our driveway is lined with hundreds of new drought-resistant plants, and, over the weekend, for the first time this year, I cut a couple of hectares of grass.
We're busy digging, chopping, hauling, seeding, testing, tweaking, painting, cleaning, and wiring new lighting as well as, with luck (and finally), installing a new front gate by late April.*
But our frenetic (human) activity pales in comparison to the spectacular vitality on display en-masse all around us, from the bright green buds on our youngest tree (a three-year old Diospyros kaki) to the thousands of daisies and dozens of anemones dotting the grass surrounding our lodgings.
Spring is here: a blessing. Come April, we'll welcome our first guests of 2023.
* Postscript, September 22: front gate install was pushed out again: five months later 😬