Bath Time

While it's probably not polite to take a photo of something taking a bath, the opportunity proved too tempting. This is one of two Mudlarks who took time out of their busy schedules of chasing each other and catching bugs to bathe. The pair do this at about four o'clock in the afternoon while the weather is warm.

The garden is full of birds, lorikeets, Rosellas, Wattle Birds, Willy-Wagtails, even the Superb Blue Wren drops in for a snack of catepillars, mosquitoes, moths, ladybugs, etc. They spread the seeds, protect the veggie patch and provide an early wake-up call, or entertainment with their colourful plumage and play.

I'm not usually a garden person - too many spiders for my liking, but they are a part of the eco-system, so I let them live - however, with the warm weather and rain, it's all lush and bursting with flowers; I'm hoping for a bumper crop of... anything. I'm not holding my breath, I've had flowers on the tomatoes all winter without fruit. I think they need more time in the sun.

Like a good story, in fact. During Nano, writers will put the words down, but any work produced will need time to mature. We plant the seeds of the story in our imaginations. We let it gestate, then the story sprouts. Under care, attention and the watering with a fertile mind, the work grows. Eventually, under our watchful gaze and ink-stained fingers, the flowers come, the fruit appears and the plant completes the cycle. For within that fruit are the seeds of future work, be it a part of a series, or a stand alone.

So spend time in the physical garden and relax, watch things grow; or spend time in the metaphysical garden and grow a book.