A cheeky lizard and newborn kittens
Today I shall more than make up for yesterday’s photo-deprived post! That photo-shoot turned out slightly chaotic, bordering on comedy even. The original intention was to give that extension tube some more work to do, nailing little critters and tiny flowers in the garden.
In the beginning all went according to plan. The first one is just a gimmick in celebration of my wedding ring finally returning to its rightful place this week. (It had been cut off when I broke my wrist last year.)
Then I spotted this baby lizard (well, I think it was a baby – it really was small!) that kept watching my comings and goings from the little drain hole of a flowerpot. I started talking to ‘him’ (how do you determine the gender of a lizard??); I called him Joey. So Joey actually started a game of peek-a-boo with me (that’s where the comedy part came in)! With incredible patience (if there’s anything that I’m not, it’s patient!) I moved my gear closer in teeny-weeny stop-motion movements, which Joey observed with bemused interest, always ready to duck back into his lair when he thought I got too close too quickly.
And then… I abandoned Joey in favour of this awesome discovery that had been there right under my nose. Last autumn another stray had made our garden her new home. I had blogged about her arrival; well at the time I actually thought it was a male and named ‘him’ Bully (I’m really terrific at guessing animals’ genders!)
OK, so he’s a she, a very skinny little thing with a cleft between nose and mouth, which seems to give her trouble breathing and eating. Honestly, we didn’t think she’d survive for long. But not only did she survive; she also contributed to the survival of her family tree!
We had an idea that she was pregnant, though she wasn’t exactly huge, just her usual skinny self with a little bulge in her tummy. A week or two ago, she suddenly made herself rare and was only seen at mealtimes, appearing much, much thinner than usual. Until yesterday: she took up residence in an old carton box in a sheltered space under the stairs leading to our roof – and brought her little family ‘home’!
Aren’t they adorable? 
