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L-R: massive green frog from the third basket, big light-green frog from the second basket, and reddish frog from the first basket.
I glanced out the front door the other night, to gauge the frog situation, and quickly grabbed at my camera when I saw all three pals sitting together in the first hanging basket.
As per usual the ’massive green frog’ (who is very camera shy) quickly turned tail and departed – as captured in the above photo. But the other two remained, and they looked like they were ready for some feasting.
I was on my own, and after the exciting but painful experience last time I fed the ‘reddish frog’, I wasn’t sure I wanted to try feeding them by myself. But their little faces looked at me so pleadingly, that it didn’t take more then a moment before I was looking around the front door’s light, seeing if there were any moths to be found. I quickly caught the biggest, plumpest, most juicy moth imaginable and that sealed the deal - I’d have to try feeding him now.
Reddish frog and big light-green frog
So, with my heart trying to pound its way out of my chest, I held the moth near the edge of the basket, just to the left of him, and waited. I was worried though, because as you can see in the photo, the two remaining frogs were vieing for the one moth, and I was expecting that in one leap they’d both be biting my finger and each other.
The ‘reddish frog’ was too quick; in one fluid motion he turned and moved, and with his little hands clasping my finger, he gently gulped down the fiercely fluttering insect. After last time, which was all chomping jaws and launching out at me, he was now all sweet and softness – soft little hands and mouth, it all seemed so simple.
I think we’re getting better at this feeding business. And he really appears to enjoy wrapping his little hands around our fingers and pausing for a few seconds, steadying himself, before returning to his perch.
I found another moth and tried to tempt ’big light-green frog’, but the ‘reddish frog’ turned and seemed ready to pounce, so I dropped the insect into the basket instead, and let them duke it out on their own.
Look at that guilty expression in the photo above, and the poor lighter green frog behind, still hoping to get in on the action. ’Reddish frog’ is just too quick, swooped down on the moth I’d thrown in, yet making sure to instantly pop his head back up to watch me.
I decided to find another moth so I could take the picture of me feeding them, but, you see, there is a bat which flies in laps along the veranda and circles around the front light, searching for moths. And just as I was lining up the frog, the caught moth, and my camera, the bat was suddenly flapping above me, dog-fighting a massive black moth. And then trying for the moth I was holding.
Well, that was just one too many wild animals for me, and I made a hasty retreat inside (feeling all brave and boasty about feeding them on my own).
I’d like to get back in the habit of waking up just as the dawn breaks through the darkness, as I think it is the prettiest part of the day- a moment of beauty and stillness all of my own. And for some reason it just makes the day seem full of possibility.
I try to soak in morning’s colours before they quickly vanish into sunlight, and then wonder around the garden in my bare feet with the dogs. Taking snaps of dew on the roses: dew which drenches the bottom of my pjs, and makes stray blades of cut grass cling to my feet. And then I traipse back inside and curl up under the warm covers, slipping blissfully back to sleep to catch a few extra z’s.
Rooftop garden: I love how we’ve got a pine tree growing in the leaf litter of the gutter above our back door. I wonder how tall it will grow.
Its delicious, but somehow feels wrong: eating a chocolate bunny while watching “Miss Potter”; the movie of Peter Rabbit’s creator, Beatrix Potter.
I don’t remember reading the books as child, but I think the illustrations are delightful, and ingenious; and I enjoy the scenery, performances and the care the filmmakers invested in the process of bringing Beatrix Potter’s story to life.
