An unexpected guest

The wonderful Jack has been today.  He’s been doing all sorts of jobs in the house and the garden.

The most important job in the garden was to revive my small fountain.  When I was sixty I asked for garden vouchers and with them I bought a small fountain so that I could enjoy the sound of running water.  It has a reservoir so the water is recirculated and it is such a joy to sit in the garden with that background tinkling.  Over the past few weeks the flow has been getting more and more sluggish and so today I asked Jack to check the filter and that involved moving the stones to get at the gubbins.

And hiding in the stones under the fountain was a lovely frog.  He isn’t very big but he is a lovely little frog. You can just about see him in my photograph. 

I know there are all sorts of reasons to be happy to see a frog.  As a gardener I know little Freddie will eat slugs.  I know that frogs have a hard time in our twenty first century world and it’s good to know that they can find congenial places to live.

But you know the reason I feel so pleased to have him in my garden?  It is quite simply that I feel honoured.  I feel honoured that he wants to live near me, just as I feel honoured when the blackbird sits and drinks from the fountain and the robin watches when I am turning soil.  Both are unexpected and honoured guests.