This week we have daffodils. Not for the first time, but as daffodils never fail to cheer just when it seems as though winter will never end, they are something to celebrate. Dorothy Whipple, who delights in spring flowers in her novels, rented the South Lodge at Newstead Abbey estate (above) as a weekend retreat and writes in Random Commentary, "As I was digging in the garden at Newstead, among the daffodils and primulas, I heard the cuckoo for the first time calling through the spring-thin woods. I feel so lucky to be here."