Saturday 29th June 2024 - Have We Got A Virus? I Quit My Job, Taking Their Place and Rekindled

We were sad to find two dead frogs in our garden and another out on the road which was far from perky.  When we cleaned out the pond, earlier this year, there were twelve frogs in the water.  But what caused the death of the two frogs, and given the state of the one on the road, possibly a third?  Of course, the frogs may not have been ones from the twelve in from our pond; something we will never know.  Peter looked on the internet for the possible cause behind their demise and it looks as though they may have contracted Ranavirus . If so, this virus is likely to be in our pond and it doesn’t bode well for the rest of our frogs or others in the area.  However, I was heartened yesterday evening, when two frogs were out with me in the garden, when I was out on my evening slug hunt.

Tomorrow, 30th June, sees the sixteenth anniversary of when I walked out of the office door, as an employee, for the last time.  After nineteen, mainly happy years, it was time for a change.  Not just for me but for Peter too; the change was a joint decision.  That’s all I am going to say for now because, I am planning to make ‘a life change’ a topic of one of my forthcoming vlogs.

Mentioning my vlogs, the last one covered the wild flowers we saw on a pavement walk during the first half of the month.  Walking a similar route this morning, I couldn’t help but notice some of the flowers I included are now setting seed e.g. ground elder.  Others are taking their place, with buds bursting open; reinforcing what I said in my vlog.

We have both become fans of YouTube, following channels of interest.  One, which we both like, and started watching recently, is Holly The Café Boat.  These vlogs have rekindled my enjoyment of baking cakes.  I used to bake several each week, to include in lunch boxes for Peter and our sons.  When lunch boxes became a thing of the past, I’m not sure if I just got out of the baking habit, or was it because other things took precedent?  Whichever, I have only been making the occasional cake and one for Christmas.  Instead, I started buying shop cakes and chocolate bars to eat with our afternoon cuppa.  Anyway, with my fondness of baking rekindled, I’ve made a battenburg, a batch of scones and currently on the cooling rack are cherry cup-cakes (see photo).  Next will be an orange and chocolate marble cake, a favourite when I was a regular baker.  As for scones, in the past, I have tried various recipes with mixed results but the next time I make them I am going to trial my own recipe, (this is currently in my head) and if they are successful, I’ll share it with you.