Sunny.

Another amazingly warm day. It would not be that unusual to have snow in March and I have a few photos of flowering daffodils in the snow so today has been a real bonus. There was no chance of a walk as Peter had to go to the gig club for some training for his new position as cox, he will still be rowing but it gives him a role when he can't row, and then some maintenance work on the gigs. I didn't mind because I was glad of the opportunity to carry on weeding the garden.

It was so nice that I brought down a couple of garden chairs and a small table. After a quick check of FB and a look at Vytas and Sally's photos of the Hue Citadel, Vietnam I had my Sunday fresh coffee out in the sun. 

The birds were singing away and I saw this Red Admiral feeding on the celandines. I also saw a small tortoiseshell and a comma butterfly. The flies had also woken up which I discovered to my annoyance.

Although the celandines are self seeded wild flowers their glowing yellow flowers brighten up the garden and I let them be. 

I paced myself a bit today with breaks to sit in the sun and read. A couple of hours got the rill cleared of weeds, leaves and general sludge and I cleared the beds on either side as well. I was particularly pleased to dig out a tangle of grass roots from under the golden marjoram. Luckily the marjoram is tough and will soon recover from my not too gentle digging. I was only just in time with the weeding as some of the shepherd's purse was already flowering. 

After a break I donned the only pair of wellies that don't leak and new rubber gloves to stand in the pond and fish out the grass that was growing in the water. If I don't get it out the grass will fill the pond by the summer. I also cleared any old beech leaves from the edge of the water. I'm such a softie that I carefully checked each leaf for tadpoles or snails before putting it in my bucket. Silly when I probably squashed a fair few creatures with my boots as I balanced at the edge of the pond. My final job was to partially block the outflow pipe so that the pond level goes up a few inches the next time it rains.