With a jolt I realised it was over 10 years ago that we put in the wildlife pond. A decade since that sunlit day of spades and laughter with my son and nephew. My son is a young man of 15 now; my nephew drives a wagon that would scare you to look at. The pond, too, seemed to be showing signs of passing time. For years host to newts, frogs, toads and all manner of aquatic insects, recently there had been fewer signs of life. The water had grown murky. I’d let the plants take over. Time to replace the old pond, and dig out an even larger one. The surprise began when, having drained half the water, I was lifting out one of the stones lining the bottom only to find it come alive. The stone was a frog and it wasn’t alone. All in all there were 20 or so hibernating in the sludgy bed