This is my favourite time of the year. Some people love the cosiness of December with its log fires. Others prefer the crisp autumnal shades or the long days of summer.

But for me this is the time of year when the light returns to us. That glorious moment when the blossom peeps out from where it’s been hiding for months and braves the possibility of that late frost.

Next weekend the clocks do their thing and I don’t even mind that alleged lost hour of sleep because we are about live in the sunlight again, even if it is often filtered through umpteen layers of cirrus, altostratus and cumulonimbus. We awake to light and retire just after it finally fades and delights shepherds and the rest of us alike.

The woods around us are full of bluebells again and the puddles are drying out, so that walking, with or without the dogs becomes less about mud and water management and constantly watching where we put our feet and more about enjoying the fresh air in our lungs and the welcome blue skies of Buckinghamshire. I know I am going on a bit and getting a tad lyrical, but it does make one realise how lucky we are living at our particular line of latitude.

We have seasons that we can compare and derive the relative benefits from. The unchanging seasons around the equator may bring endless sun and warmth but when you have champagne every day, is the enjoyment quite the same?

Probably not, though it would be an experiment that I would willingly undertake in the interests of science, you understand. And the lands of the midnight sun or perpetual darkness six months each at a time are far from appealing.

So added to our good fortune in living in a country which we have the luxury of being able to criticise with impunity and with a measure of democracy compared with the majority of the population of the globe, we also have another Spring to enjoy.

The mower awaits me. It probably won’t start or will have a flat tire but that will only delay by a day or two my ability to get rid of the twigs, leaves and hazel and beech nuts that currently festoon what I have never dared to call a lawn; grass is pushing it in fact, but at least it looks green (ish). Enjoy!