Zoo Day.

Sunny and warm today. 

This morning the clouds lined up across the horizon were reflected in the sea below.

Back again at the zoo this morning. First I planted some mint that I'd dug up from our front garden in the flowerbed by the wolf-dogs. While I was clearing the very dry soil I picked up a stem with some tiny green leaves. Thinking it might be some of the mint I planted last week, somebody else had brought it in, but not being too sure with my poor sight I held it up to my nose to smell it and found out the hard way that it was a stingling nettle. Ouch! stung right on the tip of my nose. I found a dock leaf for some relief. Then I went on to finish weeding of the gravel by the wolf-dogs. I asked Dean (one of the owners) to give me hand to move the wooden bench and then we deicded to put it in a spot where people could sit and watch the pygmy goats though it did feel a bit wobbly. Just to be safe we put it right back against a wall. Lots of visitors at the zoo again despite the reduced variety of animals. I chatted to a few groups of people about the wolf-dogs, not that I know a lot. I also get asked about the peacock. Usually it's 'is he meant to be out?' [Yes] or 'can I touch him?' [He'll let you get close and when he's had enough he'll walk or fly away]. He's a very amenable peacock and I saw children get to within a foot of him. He's moulting at the moment and has lost his tail feathers but people still think he's beautiful.

The rheas had to be moved away from public view so the zoo's two pygmy Billy goats have been brought in from their field. Fortunately they are not that smelly. I've known Billy goats whose aroma literally makes your eyes water.

The zoo's rabbits are what I believe to be Lionhead rabbits. They've been moved out from the petting barn to an outdoor run.

After my weeding I spent quite a lot of time chatting to some of the other zoo workers/volunteers. By the time I got home all I wanted to do was to take a sunlounger out on the terrace. It was lovely and hot with just the right amount of cooling breeze.

Not content with sniffing a stinging nettle as I got my things out of the car I dropped my camera on the drive. It fell on the paving with a horrible bang but so far it's still working.