LAWNMOWER MAN

Loved the film but this is for real - yes, I have done it, started the mowing. It needed doing before the grass got too long or I got ambushed by rain.

There was a frost this morning which went quite quickly so by this afternoon the grass had dried out enough, just, so . . .

Really I have a stupid garden for mowing - more like a field on a hillside with bog at the bottom - sit-on mower out so plug away on foot.

This morning, whilst I was knocking a little white ball over grass much better maintained than at home, R laboured with the brambles and undergrowth. She is very good at it. Perhaps I could loan her to others? I wonder how much I could charge?

The daffs are now flowering and we have had our first vase of wild ones - Narcissus pseudonarcissus. I always knew my Latin would come in useful even if I could not pass it at O level.

Down in the pond the frogspawn is maturing and teeny taddies can be seen inside the eggs.

The crocus we have in the garden are mainly the yellow, purple and light purple common ones but we do have one little gem - a pale yellow one flowering unobtrusively in the rose bed.

Despite trying to remember where new plants were put and so on there are always surprises from loss of memory and plants that self sow - primroses in the lawn, a geranium in the fig pot.

Snowdrops are being divided now they are going over and replanted, a few bulbs at a time in each new place.

I did not think there was much new could be done with the wood chippings I put on the woodland path but an enterprising Great Tit is using it for nesting material in on of the nest boxes.

There is a rabbit hole in the brambles under the old dead tree.

This means we have RABBITS living in the garden!!!!!!

How much are foxes?