Grey.

It's been a mostly grey day with some rain, some sun and some blue skies. So I did a little work outside before heading off to work at lunchtime. I had a pleasant afternoon and then I stayed on at school to paint some castle walls in my friend's classroom role play area. It's not brilliant and I wouldn't be getting any job offers as a set painter but hopefully the children will enjoy playing in their 'castle'.

This morning I found the first of the year's frog spawn in the small pond.  Not doubt as usual it will suffer in the February/March freeze but it does herald the coming spring. The first 2 daffodils are flowering along the stream bank though last year they were in flower before the end of December.

That greedy cat, Patch, had also noticed the frog spawn and was slurping down a few mouthfuls of the indigestible gloop before going back to his trout fishing. Yesterday he was sitting by the stream as I parked the car and before I had got out he was already disappearing under a tree with a trout in his mouth.