Slow Down! Take a closer look!

Well, I had planned on a  long entry to bore everyone with details of the madagascar trip. However, the week and life moved on and it is now old news (except for those poor souls who are part of the family or close friends who will receive the inevitable invite for coffee, bite to eat and slideshow- be warned, you have not escaped)!

BUT! Despite all of the incredible wildlife we saw out there, we have just found several of the most impressive caterpillars we have ever seen in our own garden. They are Elephant Hawk Moth Caterpillars and are amazing!

We only realised we had a number of these after photographing this one, but we are really hoping we can follow their progress until they turn into stunning moths!

When relaxed, their heads are elongated, but when under threat (as when some fanatic with a camera approaches) they draw their snouts back causing their head to appear larger and with the two large spots on the head, they look like a snake. You can see they also have quite impressive choppers!!!

Also last weekend, we harvested our very modest first attempt at growing several different vegetables. Not over impressive, but we were quite proud. Now we know what works well, and what is not quite so successful, so watch this space next year. Best Harvest was chilli peppers (which I did try last year). I now have several ice cream tubs full in the freezer (they freeze really well) and still have around a hundred still to ripen!!!

But, enough for now! See you all later!!!