Slugs and other stuff...

That poo is moving ... that poo is a slug.
That must be the biggest slug in the world...
This was declaimed by S at the sight of this...

...on the terrace of our garden.
As you can see, S took the picture using her index finger to give scale. Later we discovered another slug almost as large. This slug is somewhat bizarrely called a Grey slug! We do have a hedgehog that visits the garden, I do hope it comes and eats these slugs soon.
S comes from New Zealand and it is a revelation looking at England through her eyes. When she last was in this country, we lived in a suburb of a city, since then we have moved to a small country town. We went for a walk on the day she arrived, down through the High Street and on to the bridge over the river. The scene is a typically english pastoral one. A meandering river edged with willows and rushes.

It is very easy to take it for granted. S admired the view, I saw it again with new eyes. It is stunningly lovely. The irony of the news reports of riots against the pastoral idyll was intensified as friends and relatives from New Zealand checked that she was in no danger from the unrest. One of the reasons we moved was to escape the noise and bustle of the city. We do hear sirens here, but that is because our town houses the local fire engine which attends any fires locally and accidents on the big road nearby. Generally though, my town is a peaceful place to live. As I type, I can hear the sheep and cattle at the Saturday Livestock Market.
Whether I see the world through my eyes or someone else's, I count myself blessed to live in such a lovely spot .. even if the slugs are huge and look like poo!