Cabbage snacks

Thank you to Teresa for the cabbage. Mr Kipling and the Ladies are most grateful.

I thought Omar the tortoise had started hibernating earlier in the week, but it seems she was just avoiding the storm. This morning she dug herself out of her burrow and marched up to a sunny spot near the fence. She's not eating, which means she will hibernate soon, but it's obviously too warm for her to think about a long sleep.

Whilst Omar-proofing the garden (blocking up the gap where the fence panel had come down in the storm so she can't wander next door and beyond), I spied a huge bumblebee buzzing about the ivy and a leafcutter bee confronted me when I got too near its den under the picnic table. I had to stop for a moment to wonder if we were going into spring rather than winter. Then I realised that I had been wearing my woolly scarf when working indoors earlier. The cold season is definitely coming. (I can't say "Winter is coming" because I come over all excited about Games of Thrones season 3 - I'm waiting patiently for the box set.)