A gift of a day

What a wonderful day! It was very chilly to begin with and the early sun turned the frost on the grass into a million, multi-coloured jewels. Once I put on enough layers to venture outdoors, I found that these icicles had formed from waterfall droplets freezing on the vegetation overhanging the pond. Sadly, I think these cool nights (-4C) have put paid to the viability of the frog spawn in the pond.
In the afternoon, N, Bertie and I joined four other friends over at the community orchard and finished pruning the apple and pear trees. It really is a beautiful spot and we shed layers as we basked in the sunshine! It was an afternoon of gifts for the orchard: a local tradesman came with a mini digger and flattened an area ready for the construction of a composting toilet and a generous farmer brought a load of manure for the raised beds.