Those aren’t my walking boots, they are on hold for the moment, but my gardening shoes. I have a habit of leaning them upside down, to keep them dry, outside the backdoor after what is usually a short session of weeding or mowing. There they remained for a few days whilst we had an onslaught of continuous rain. You may recall the sad end to the Ashes Test at Old Trafford last week.
This morning I thought I would do a spot of rose deadheading, a relaxing activity unlikely to put a strain on any of my ongoing injuries. I shoe horn my right foot into the shoe, tying the laces. The left foot comes up against something soft and mysterious. Had I left a sock in there? Putting my fingers in I can’t dislodge the obstruction, but tapping the shoe on the floor brings out a toad to my surprise and amusement. He, they always look like a ‘he’, sits there unconcerned. I check the shoe for his mate but only find a slug presumably his lunch. Gardening is delayed whilst I retreat for another coffee. 
Toad in the hole – the story relates that on an unspecified golf course a player’s ball was pushed out of the 18th hole after which the offending toad poked his head out to the amazement of the players. The chef at the golf club devised a dish immortalizing this episode; a sausage, the mole, poking its head out of the batter. This is how legends are born.
Jamie Oliver’s Toad in the hole.
I could cope with the toad but not the slug – those shoes would have been straight in the bin if the were mine 🙁 The toad in the hole doesn’t look very appetising either 🙁 I’ve been wondering where you’d got to as it seems ages since you last posted – I hope you’re okay.
Blame Jamie for the toad dish.
Yes, not been out much due to a recurring hip problem which has returned after 6 years. https://wordpress.com/posts/bowlandclimber.com?s=la+palma
Will soon be back out on the trail.
Just reading that gave me the shivers. Perhaps you remember my experience a while ago on which you commented:
https://conradwalks.blogspot.com/2019/07/ranidaphobia.html#comment-form
I remember that episode with your plumber. Have you got over it?
I like toads, but a slug in your shoe is pretty gross. Looks like that toad has got through quite a few slugs recently though – the size of it!
I’ll be checking those shoes more carefully in future.
Argh. Neither slugs nor toads. The thought of that gives me the creeps, which remind me, my walking boots are drying outside. I’d better fetch them in. 😱
I suppose the toad is less slimy than the slug, but you don’t want either in your boots.
I remember trekking out in the Jebel Sahara in Morroco when it was wise to check your boots each morning for scorpions. The black ones were the most poisonous.