TOADS IN THE ROAD!

There are Toads in the road on the way into town all heading for Sue's big pond for a bit of nookie. It is very difficult to avoid driving over them despite the road signs warning us of the migration.

We have ducks - the mallard pair come every morning and sometimes in the afternoon for a snack and mooch about on the pond.

J has given R two pots of sweet peas and they will have to be gently hardened off and put in the veg bed area for cut flowers. There's nowt like the pong of sweet peas.

AS has been up and removed all of the copper beech hedge now and taken it for his new garden - well, old garden but attached to new house. 

I have ordered the stuff for Alfie and Josh to do the draining of the garden - loads of slotted pipe and gravel - but just when everything was drying out it has poured again so we have put things off till after Easter.

I continue to excavate the tip finding more engine parts, old bottles and assorted rubbish - rusty metal and broken glass - plus an assortment of solid tyres (?from a pram).

Talking of things yellow - well I wasn't but am now - the tete-a-tete daffs in the square pot outside the kitchen door are great, we have yellow shrubs in the garden and I have made 14 pounds of marmalade from the Seville oranges I put in the freezer.

 

There are shrubs beginning to flower in the garden but I have to concede that this pic of a lemon tree was taken in Monchique in Portugal - definitely not hardy here.

I have also made some Easter Biscuits - the recipe nicked from Mary Berry - so to infringe a bit of copyright here we go - 

Cream 200g butter with 150g caster sugar, add 2 egg yolks and whisk. Add 1 teaspoonful (UK) mixed spice and same of ground cinnamon. (I felt a little more spice would have suited me better.)

Add 400g plain flour and mix well moistening with about 2 tablespoonful (UK) of milk. You may need a bit more if too dry.

Add 200g currants and roll out 1/2 cm thick. Cut with a round biscuit cutter whatsit and place on buttered baking tray. 

Cook at 180C for 10-15 minutes - till the edges are beginning to brown.

Sprinkle with a little caster sugar whilst still hot.

Allow to cool and stuff in mouth as accompaniment to a cup of tea or coffee.

Talking of teaspoons I have just finished mounting my prints for the Photo Society's Annual Competition, and I know I have posted this before but it is worth another go - so here are 40,000 spoons.

Here is another tongue-in-cheek pic - can you guess the title?

Of course - it is 'How Now. . . .' 

I hear a distant cry that those reading this in Kazakhstan would not see the reference.

Well, though my postillion may have been struck by lightning and the rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain, to develop the speaking of '-ow' words there is 'How now brown cow.'

Ouch! Ha, bl****, ha!

It is all a bit puerile isn't it but then I am what I am . . .