Unearthed

Well, guess who turned up in the garden this morning.  After a week of warm weather and no sign of Reg, I was fearing the worst.  When the sun came onto the garden this morning I went to have a look, and almost stood on him, propped up in the vegetation, soaking up the rays and looking very earthy.  He may have been out for a few days, hidden amongst the overgrown flower beds, or more likely he emerged yesterday when we were out all day.  He does like to bask when the sun shines and that's when he's easy to find, and we surely would have seen him if he had come out before Saturday.  So, he's a week later than last year, but still earlier than some years.  It's a relief he's made it through another winter, and a joy to see that craggy, grumpy face again.  The warm weather has brought on his food plants (dandelions, clover, and vetches), so when his appetite wakes up, there will be plenty of food for him.

That was the main event of the day, apart from my old friend Andrew successfully securing his Glastonbury tickets first thing this morning.  He's been staying since Friday, and later this week I shall post entries for Friday and Saturday to explain what we have been up to.  Suffice to say we had a quieter day today after a big day out yesterday, a bit of time with Caroline and Gus (and Reg) in the garden, and a bit more progress making it look like it's actually gardened.  Andrew drove back to Keighley this evening, where he's staying to the end of this next week, before heading home to Surrey.

Apologies for my absence from here for a couple of days, and thank you so much for the comments, stars and hearts for the last blip posted on Thursday.  I've had a good weekend catching up with old friends that I haven't seen for too many years.  And of course, we said we mustn't leave it so long before the next time.