Dear Readers, I don’t know how I managed to live my life when I worked full-time – part-time is enough of a push. Today I have been trying to fit the proverbial gallon into a pint-pot, but I have reached the point where enough is enough, so I decided to see what was going on in the front garden, there being quite a lot of building work going on at the back. And look at this splendid bumblebee, launching herself into the air in most determined way!

The little four-banded flower bees are back too, and they are surprisingly aggressive for such little creatures. This one saw off a bumblebee that must have been four times her size.

But I decided to look at the less charismatic creatures on the buddleia today. There was a very splendid harlequin ladybird rummaging through the aphids who have finally turned up.

But what struck me when I paid attention was how many of the buddleia leaves have curled up. This is usually because a bug of some kind punctures the veins in the leaf with its needle-sharp proboscis to suck the sap, and this makes the leaf curl around to give some protection. I knew that the likely culprits were the froghoppers who make the cuckoo spit, and indeed, here they are.

They really do look very like tiny frogs.

But who is that in the background? If I’m not mistaken it’s a seven-spot  ladybird larva, a most vigorous muncher of aphids. I suspect that the froghoppers are too big for it to make a meal of, and so they are all living quite happily together in their curly leaf.

And so that’s it for today, folks. I’m off to put a pizza in the oven, and to prepare myself for the final push before my exam on Monday. I know how to enjoy myself, clearly.