Lessons in gardening

Today I learned, the hard way, that hiking shorts - while perfect for this morning's task of digging in the hot sunshine - are far from ideal for the afternoon's task of hauling great piles of brambles onto a bonfire.

To pre-empt the inevitable questions; yes, it's been a while since my legs saw a razor, yes it really really stung when I washed the cuts, yes it stung like I wanted to die when I put antiseptic spray on, yes that is a thorn hanging out of my right leg mid calf and there were many more lodged on the back of my ankles and - bizarrely - one in my pants.

The fire was extremely hot - not an ideal task for a hot day really but essential given that the birds were starting to investigate the piles of brambles as potential nest sites. And my insistence on moving the piles to one location rather than just burning each where it was piled as we cut them was proved right when a very large snake slithered out of the bottom of one pile as I moved it. A type of couleuvre we were told by a neighbour. I did take some photos, but they were with my phone from so far away that I didn't notice the snake's head was behind a leaf. Next time.