Unexpected leap

Yesterday I was looking out of the kitchen window as I waited for the kettle to boil for my breakfast mug of tea, when I noticed what looked like a twig, or maybe a leaf, on the patio paving. Suddenly it moved. The action was unmistakably a frog leaping. It was very small, a couple of inches long at most, clearly a baby. The frogs are still obviously in the garden, even if we don’t have a pond or other water feature in the garden. There is plenty of undergrowth to hide in, damp soil just below the surface & slugs for food (& no slug pellets to poison the frogs accidentally).

Almost at the same time the first few drops of rain fell. The thunder had already been rolling around the leaden skies for a while. Within the hour I started my ironing & stair-rods fell from the sky solidly for another hour accompanied by angry claps of thunder. After all this water, even though the sun did shine later in the day, it has been so much fresher. By the afternoon a breeze got up. We decided it was getting too cold to eat outside & we were nervous of the clouding sky, so we had our dinner in the kitchen/diner once again.

Today I’m still dithering about what to cook. I’m hoping to make a warm salad of potatoes, scallops & bacon. However, I look out & wonder whether I will feel like sitting on top of a hot cooker boiling potatoes & frying bacon & scallops if the sun comes out this afternoon. Still the bacon, scallops & peas can wait in the freezer unspoilt for a while. Lunchtime will be early enough to get them out to thaw. We might yet fancy another cold salad – tuna & bean perhaps for a change.