Sarah Todd: The stories behind favourite symbols of the season

CHOOSING a Mother's Day card my eye was caught by the bright yellow daffodils on the neighbouring display of Easter greetings.

Where are the daffodils? Is it my imagination, or aren't they normally out by this time of year?

A little research has confirmed that the cold winter has delayed the daffodil season by about four weeks, not the best of news for producers who just don't have the same number of daffs ready for tomorrow's Mother's Day. Many won't be ready until later in the month or early next, leading growers to fear high levels of wastage. There's also a cosmetic issue, with shoppers used to long-stemmed daffodils. Because they're growing later, when the daylight hours are longer, this year's stems are going to be shorter.

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Being short in the stem myself, there'll be no discrimination against anything a bit smaller than average in our household.

Another image on the Easter card display was of spring lambs, gambolling around green (often daffodil-flanked) fields.

How have readers found Kate Humble's Lambing Live? on television? I have a well-documented allergy to the whole Countryfile genre of programmes fronted by luminous-anoraked presenters and the show perhaps hasn't had a completely unbiased airing at our house.

The theme of spring animals is flowing all too easily now. Besides bunnies there's the other enduring seasonal image, the fluffy yellow chick. Eggs were in the news this week. A new study said they should be a "superfood" – alongside blueberries and broccoli – thanks to their ability to boost health and even help to tackle obesity.

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The research, due to be published in the June issue of Nutrition & Food Science, reveals eggs are one of the most nutrient-dense foods available and advises eating at least one egg a day to get the optimum benefits.

Researchers identified groups who could particularly benefit, including children, teenagers and older adults, as well as heavy meat-eaters and those not consuming milk.

Finally, another favourite Easter card theme is the country cottage. The reality is that such idyllic rural homes are nowadays far more likely to be holiday hideaways or lived in by wealthy commuters than by bona fide locals. The phrase "reverse commute" is new to me. It refers to the people who do their day's work in the countryside having to live in the towns, while those that work in the cut-and-thrust take over rural areas. More than 100,000 young people aged between 24 and 35 will leave rural areas in the next three years because they cannot afford to live there, and the Young Farmers club at a national level is researching the issue.

Now, best write that card.