Usually I have a few kookaburras visiting the garden first thing in the morning. After I give them a little bit of mincemeat, off they go, and although I see them around the yard they don’t usually return until the next day looking for food. Around lunchtime today though, when I walked into the kitchen, there was a lone kookaburra, clearly waiting for a morsel. Of course I obliged, he probably missed out this morning – right?

After lunch I decided to bake a batch of muffins – pumpkin and blueberry – which sounds like a strange combination but they are very tasty. I don’t have a sweet-tooth, so they suit me perfectly. Husband wasn’t so keen. I had suspected he might not be fussed, so I also made his favourite lemon loaf, which I’ve probably made a hundred times over the years. I needed a fresh lemon, so while the muffins were baking, the dogs and I went for a walk down the back to the orchard. And this is how the valley looked during the afternoon, beautiful, clear and sunny. It was a very fine day today.

I heard kookaburras laughing nearby, so looked around and found two sitting together in one of the tall gum trees. I often hear them down there during the day, and also around sunset when they always have a good ole laugh!

This last photo might be a bit unexpected – it’s a blue-tongue lizard. They are completely harmless – unless they feel threatened, of course – so he or she is very welcome in my garden. They eat snails and other insects, and so long as it gets on well with my family of green tree frogs who live in the front garden, it can stay as long as it likes. I’m not sure why it decided to visit my front veranda, but it was an opportunity to get a good photo. I knew something was in my garden near the door because I often heard it rustling about. At least now I know it’s not a snake! 🙂