A day of brushcutting and I saw three little toads. Two the size of that one on the front page and one about twice as big but still not full-grown. I love frogs and toads. Here, we have just three: the common frog, the common toad and the natterjack toad. This was a common toad.
I remember one of my first experiences of righteous anger. It was the Ladybird book version of The Princess and the Frog. The princess is playing with her golden ball and drops it in the river. The frog says he'll get it for her if she promises to kiss him. She agrees. But as soon as she has her blasted ball she rushes off to the castle - selfish, prejudiced bitch - and the frog, calling after her, has to hop behind, hampered by the grass and the huge doors. He reaches her but she doesn't want to kiss him. Of course, she finally does - I think the king tells her to because she made a promise and a princess must not break promises. The frog turns into a prince and all live happily ever after.
Why couldn't she live with a frog?
These damn princesses are all the same. The one with the pea, 'Oh, I couldn't sleep!" Actually, I can't think of any more princesses. But Wuji is one" "Oh, I can't eat except when you want to sleep. And the food has to be in a chose location. And you must stay with me and offer loving encouragement." FFS.
I wish Wuji would kiss and frog and that unfortunate prince would then have to feed him.
Anyway, it was good to see the toads - and no signs of amputated limbs. Aside from that.... Michael and I heard a robin singing rather beautifully... Oh, yes, he got stung by wasps. He had brushcut over their nest and the wasps whizzed out. At first he thought it was one of the green-eyed monsters biting his head, then he saw the wasps. He just dropped his brushcutter and started dancing around, removing his harness and helmet. Six stings in total. He said he went hot and cold for a while, but he finished the job. I told him my epipen was in my bag. Even without the threat of an anaphylactic shock, I would not have been as stoical as he was. Not with just one sting. In fact, I considered calling it a day. But the wasps settled quickly and we carried on.
When I got home, I sat in the garden to do my work. I could hear birds all around me but only saw one robin, the tail of a tit and some starlings. Earlier, Son of Bob and Grey Crown had visited, as well as the Brave Dunnock. It's funny: I can see how different the great tits are now - their markings are truly distinctive. As for the dunnocks, the balance of grey and brown and how defined their patterns are seems to vary greatly. The robins? So far, just through behaviour, state of fledging (relative age) and scars (in the case of Original Bob). Had Len not alerted me to this, in the case of the great tits, I would not have noticed. There was a coal tit the other day - very smart little thing. I have only seen them rarely and one at a time, so it's hard to judge and the blue tits move too fast.
You and Michael had an adventure! Did one wasp sting you? And did you use the epipen? I've been wondering who likes eating slugs. We've had some very big ones this summer. But no signs of toads and frogs.