You know you really live in the countryside when you meet two tiny toads and a blindworm (Anguis fragilis, aka slowworm, Blindschleiche in German) a few hundred metres from home on your evening walk. Considering that I grew up in a village of less than 400, it’s surprising that it was the first blindworm I ever saw. (I have seen toads before, though. Really.)

Here’s a photo of the toad (Bufo bufo, Erdkröte in German) I found while working in the garden on Saturday. It was about the size of my palm.

For the record, Saturday was the first day since our move that the weather was decent enough to work in the garden, mow the lawn and so on. Afterwards, we did what Americans do according to our cliché: We grilled burgers. It felt so stereotypical: On a Saturday you work in the garden, mow the lawn, have barbecue. We should also have had some beers to complete the picture. ;-)