Z enthuses

Isn't it a gorgeous day? I'm so sorry for you if you're not in England right now, because this weather is the very best of an English spring day. This time last year, I was in Venice, leaving behind a cold and wintry homeland, but now I'm happy to be here.

I've been, too warmly, in the greenhouse, labelling pots and sowing seeds. I've got six or seven varieties of tomato and eight, I think of peppers, sweet or hot, and I am bound to mix them up sooner or later.

Ooh, the exciting news of the day is that we have frogspawn!!(!) Several clumps in the pond. I can't see any in the stream, but it's a bit scummy and weedy and so it might be there. I love tadpoles. Each year, I hope that hatching day will be when I'm not too busy to go out and watch for an hour or two. This year, Squiffany will be with me to enjoy it. She'll love it.

Not many of my tadpoles survive, I'm afraid. This is a great pity, but I can't help it. I can net the pond against the devastating harnser*, but in-pond predators are not possible to deal with, and the great pond diving beetle larvae and dragonfly nymphs chomp tadpoles in large numbers. Judging by the number of frogs we have in the garden, some survive, all the same, just waiting for the kiss of Z**.

*Norfolk for heron
**Does it work? you ask? Once in a while...