Catch of the day

I think First Prize goes to Bluey for "Most Unusual Snack":

I have no idea where and how she found this - a little baby toad I suppose it is?  One minute she was pecking around the chicken enclosure as normal, the next minute running round triumphantly being chased by the others, as usually happens when one of them acquires a tasty morsel...I assumed it was a worm until I realised it had legs and arms!  Poor little thing, but I can't think where it was travelling from or to, it must have wandered into the enclosure from the hedge.

At last I managed to get round to planting out my runner beans, dwarf french beans and the last few pumpkin plants still languishing in their pots.  Here we are just getting underway:

The runner bean plants are a lifesaving donation from my gardening friend here in the village, who had similar germination failure with her first batch as I did - then she decided to soak the whole lot of her remaining 40 seeds on damp kitchen roll on the top of the Rayburn, primary school style - and of course the whole lot germinated! So she offered me 14 of the excess which I gladly snapped up.  I only needed 10 but its always useful to have extras in reserve in case of the dreaded slug...

The dwarf french beans are saved seed left by grandma labelled 'French Bean Slender' - I can't find out whether this is an actual variety or just her own description, but as they have germinated and the packet seed of my favourite yellow dwarf bean 'Sonesta' have failed miserably so far, then green ones we will have - better than none at all!

All the pumpkins/squash are now planted, so I have a good mix (hopefully if they fruit):

• 6 x climbing 'Munchkin'
• 2 x Butternut 'Hunter'
• 1 x 'Big Max' (tho this one is a gamble - it looks a bit wee and feeble at the mo)
• 1 x 'Turk's Turban'
• 1 x 'Harlequin'

They are spread across 3 different beds so with luck and a following wind we might have a least some fruits of a couple of the plants, even if they decide they don't like the newly made bed (although this bed may be sunnier), or they don't like the old beds because they are a little shadier... you never can tell.

Meanwhile, worrying developments were observed when I crossed the garden to get my cup of tea...

Uh oh...shed being rifled through..piles of wood and tools spread around again... Unmistakeable signs of....

...the Engineer at work! Be afraid...Treehouse extension Plan B underway...

I think the less said the better here - but the good news so far is that the playtower is at least now level, stable again (reasonably - it'll be better once the ladder and slide are back on to help brace it), and anchored in to the ground again.  Phew...this in itself is a relief - trying to keep the wee scoundrels off the playtower by explaining that it's not safe because its not fixed to the ground properly and wobbly have generally been met with blank expressions, and surreptitious attempts to prop up the slide and ladder themselves have been discovered...As I pointed out to the Engineer, I know he really wants to build it 'fancy' so that it is supported by angled timbers off the trunk rather thank ungainly legs set into the ground, BUT if it's not finished to play on by the summer holidays THERE WILL BE REVOLUTION.

Dahlia 'Tahoma Moonshot'

But its okay - the first dahlia is out in the circle bed, and all is therefore right with the world x