'Tis warming up a bit

Today was feeling distinctly warmer, with the car thermometer reading 16 degrees Celcius outside and the conservatory thermometer reading 22 degrees inside.  The spirit is lifted.

 In a flurry of excitement I went out and cut the lawn whilst Rosie was baking a cake.  The grass was in need of a cut and I emptied a full mower bin 6 times over into the brown recycle bin.

 I only did the back lawns as the front one is not nearly so much in need of a cut.  The next challenge of the season will be to clear out the greenhouse, which I have been using as a dumping ground over the winter.  I shall soon need it to put out my seedlings which are germinating in trays under the settee in the conservatory.

 

 I cleaned out the pond yesterday of all the dead leaves and twigs from the winter.  A single frog and a single newt were returned to the water as the leaves came out.  Now that the weather is warmer, we are seeing more frogs.  Rosie counted 6 and I later counted 9.

This pond is the only secure breeding water for some distance and I expect to see many more frogs over the next few days.  Most are still in winter dark brown, but a couple have started to change pigment to show the paler summer colouration.