 |
| A kitchen full of creatures |
 |
| Belka's debut hike in the Alps |
Mike has been out collecting more pets. His - let's say "special" - taste in creatures means they are not very cuddly. They are currently sitting on our kitchen window ledge so he can admire them every breakfast-time and check how much they have grown. There is a nymph in the largest of the containers, which was fished out of our pond, and will hopefully turn into a dragonfly. We found the tadpoles in a local pond in the woods, and hope they will metamorphose into frogs. Mike found the big fat white grubs in the soil of last year's growbag, so maybe they came out of Grandma's magic beans. On the other hand, they might be baby beetles. Mike can't wait to find out. Lucy and I would rather not. The mosquito larvae on the far right are living in our water barrel in the garden. Mike was instructed quite firmly to not even think about bringing any of them into the kitchen.
Mike and Belka are in training for the hiking season. On Fathers' Day, last Thursday, the second of three public holidays this May, the two of them took the train to Tutzing and had a damp but enjoyable 17km hike through woods to Starnberg. That went well, so today Mike drove Belka to the Alps for her first proper hike, up a steep protected path (you can see the cables in the pictures) to a couple of mountain lakes. She managed very well, just needing to be lifted up a few of the steep rocky steps, and was still fit enough to run most of the way down. Belka's markings hint at her having Australian Cattle Dog in her, and judging by the official character traits of that breed, it is no wonder that she is like a steam engine, able to trot on and on all day once she's been given a task to do.
