Dry.

It was a bright sunny morning but by the time I was ready to work outside it was mainly overcast and when the sun did reappear the garden was all in shade anyway. I do find it a little galling to see the hilltops and my neighbour's house bathed in sunlight when we are in the gloom. All the more reason to make sure that our next home catches a bit more sun.

I started my gardening with a bit of here-and-there weeding. In an ideal world my garden would be so well maintained that that's all I would need to do - walk around pulling up the occasional weed. Needless to say I soon found parts of the garden needing a more concentrated effort. I did manage to tidy up around most of the flower bed edges making sure that the grass didn't sneak its way in. Then I spotted a big section of the hillside bank covered by couch grass spreading over the hardy geraniums. That took priority and hopefully I've removed most of it. I also had quite a lot to do clearing the rill at the bottom of the bank. I was scooping up mud off the stones that form the bed of the rill when I discovered I was holding a toad that had been sleeping in the mud. That was a bit of a surprise.

I've sent off for another type of humane mouse trap as there are increasing signs of tiny rodents moving into the house. Last night I was brushing my teeth when in the mirror I saw a small grey shape running across the floor. I chose the first trap which claims to trap up to 10 mice because it has a big clear panel through which I thought I could take photos but so far it has proved useless. The one I've ordered we had before and I do know that it works.