Do the children of today believe in fairies? Do they know they should be caught in flight and the wish will only come true if the “fairy” – the seed – is still at the heart of the thistledown?
Last week, I found a veritable fairy factory along by the river, although most of them hadn’t yet left the plant – pun very much intended – so they weren’t quite ready to grant any wishes:
As I said in “what’s been bugging me“, the local insects may be impressive, but most of them aren’t very colourful – at least not the ones who sit still long enough for me to take pictures. That’s what I like about flower photography: the subject doesn’t run away when you point a camera at it.
At the moment, though, there aren’t many blooms around to brighten the blog pages. It’s partly because of the heat – all the vivid wildflowers of a month or so ago have dried back to straw, and even in the garden the few plants that are in flower are mostly wilting and ragged.
But it’s the insects who are responsible for the chewed petals and holey leaves, so I’m in two minds when I see a bright bug to know if I want it to stay put for a photo or hop, crawl or fly away and leave my plants alone. 
The cats bring me gifts; they leave them outside the door: lizards, locusts, snakes, birds, eggs, embryos, feathers…
I’m never sure what I’ll find on the verandah in the morning. Never sure if it will be alive or dead, complete or dismembered.
So when I found this lovely creature the other morning, I assumed he was only in one piece because the cats had got bored and abandoned the game when he died of shock.
Naturally, I went to get the camera to take some close-ups… Continue reading “here be dragons”
This weekend I’ve posted photos and poetry about bugs, and I have been thinking about all the small creatures who visit us and who share our house and garden. 
Yesterday I gathered together some pictures of bugs that have appeared on the blog over the years. Today, along with a new photo of a recent unidentifed visitor to the house, I thought I’d gather together a few of the fragments of poetry that I’ve posted here on the same broad subject.
It was probably clear when I wrote about one of my very early poems that I’ve been writing about creepy crawlies pretty much since I was old enough to write. However, since I was brought up in the UK, the bugs weren’t as exotic as those featured in yesterday’s picture gallery.
Continue reading “more bugs”
don't confuse the narrator 