Dear Readers, I have should have known that the frogs were out and about when one of the local cats spent an inordinate amount of time pacing around the pond, but today I got my first photo of one – it’s a lot colder today so there’s no singing or popping up at the side of the pond to see what’s going on. I couldn’t get a clear view of this frog, but I half-think that there might already be a male on board. See what you think.

Anyhow, there are lots of signs of spring – bulbs seem to be popping up everywhere, as do the wildflower seeds that my lovely gardener planted in the autumn. I can’t wait to see what they actually are…

And there are a few things in flower: the winter honeysuckle is nearly finished, but the clematis is still going strong.

The duckweed is starting its annual advance across the pond, but we shall be doing battle regularly, at least until the tadpoles hatch and it becomes too difficult to disentangle them from the vegetation. Because of all the tree work last year, the garden should be a bit lighter, but maybe that will only encourage the duckweed, we shall have to see.

And we are in for a few fun-filled weeks – on Wednesday we had the scaffolding put up so that we can get replacement windows. Our windows are single-paned, and to be honest my poor neuropathic feet have been so cold this winter that anything that helps to keep them a bit warmer (and to lower our carbon footprint/heating bill) can only be to the good. Last time we had scaffolding a sparrowhawk spent a lot of time sitting on it, so let’s see what happens this year. Someone suggested that we now have a makeshift balcony so maybe I can sit there with a martini and survey my kingdom.

One good thing is that I shall be able to get at least one swift box up – it’s a north-facing wall so the poor little things won’t get roasted, and if the swifts don’t like it maybe the sparrows will move in. Anyhow, it’s going to be a pretty messy, noisy and stressful few weeks/months, so wish me luck!