Twigs and beasties

I had left a bundle of fuchsia sticks on top of the garden wall. This morning I went down with a piece of string to tie them up and add them to the coal sackful of roots, brambles and other twigs that I was going to take to the dump. I used to shred all this sort of stuff but I think that the dust and vapour from plant shredding is one of the things that does my head in (in a painful clogged up hay feverish sort of way) so I do less of it nowadays.

Underneath the bundle was this shiny beetle. I managed to get a pic before it ran away. Look how grainy the top of the wall is where moss and ivy have worked on it!

Then I noticed a whole crowd of beasties: millipedes and more beetles. The picture isn't very well focussed, I'm afraid.

Then they all ran away and I felt like a rotter for removing their roof!

Meanwhile the pond had a certain tadpoley wriggliness about it in all the shallow parts. Sorry, no pic of tadpoles just my favourite pond edging of tiny Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage plants.