Well I think we must be enjoying the first day of Spring.

I was going to light another fire to burn off the bits of the heap that didn’t go last week but I noticed that one of the near neighbours had their washing on the line in the garden. It occurred to me that they might resent taking the clothes in only to find them smelling of wet leaves so I left the fire for another day.

I cleaned out some of the pond instead with a view to hopefully getting it ready for frog spawn in a week or so’s time. The reeds have started to take it over so I spent half an hour dipping my hands in and puling out clumps of roots, old leaves and general gunk from last year. As I did so I unearthed the good deep methane smell of well rotted wet vegetation. I also found a pair of sunglasses that had been lost in there about three years ago. I also unearthed the one remaining goldfish. It lurked at the edges probably disturbed by the clouds of mud and odd bubbles that burped up quietly to the surface. We shall have to see what the frogs make of it.

Before that lunch was a couple of steaks from the farmers market. I resisted the temptation to buy myself a great single rib of beef. It was probably a bit extravagant for a Saturday lunch. The steaks were grilled for a couple of minutes on a high heat, left to rest for another couple of minutes and then stuffed, bloody and rare, into a baguette with rocket salad and some slices of onion.

Everything feels tight in the garden as is the sudden burst of warmth, the sun being out until late afternoon and the clear blue sky have filled all the dead wood of winter to bursting.