Pruned

It's not quite finished - I still need to cut the branches back to the main branch on the bit where the bird feeder is hanging so that we can walk up the path. Apart from this, it's done. This middle bed always looks so bare in the winter, but by the summer, it will impossible to see the shed and the back end of the garden. I think I'll have to do a before and after shot in August.

I managed to get out on the bike today. There was a shower and then a lot of blue sky, so I thought I'd take a risk. I didn't take the camera as I wanted to see how quickly I could do the ride (42 minutes, as it happened, but I should get that down to 35 or so, if I can keep it going) and I knew if I had the camera, I would be stopping for pictures.

Sure enough, as I headed down to the river, the light was brilliant on the fields and there were some spectacular cumulus clouds on the horizon and I would have stopped. But, no camera, so I carried on. It was quite a cold wind, so I was quite pleased to reach the river where I had to pedal and do some work again. Unfortunately, the bit by the river takes about three minutes to ride and then the up-hills start as I move away from the river.

The hills were hard work, as I hadn't done the ride for a while and I even walked up a couple that I used to ride up. It was while I was walking that I noticed that the cuddly cumulus which I had seen earlier, was now a looming darkness that was obviously going to empty out in the near future. I didn't have far to go, so it was a race between me and the shower I could see few fields away.

It hit me as I came down the hill into the village - a mix of rain and hail. Fortunately, I got in before the worst of it and was only slightly damp when I got in. Hopefully, there will be a rain-free three quarters of an hour again tomorrow so that I can get out again.

And we've got another dollop of frogspawn in the pond!