Doing a little jig with a lizard... and other creature events

First I want to apologize to all those who emailed me (or spoke to their son hehe) about me missing last week's blog post, I'll try an make it up to you this week with a nice juicy one. No excuses, I just didn't feel like there was much to report last week.

I have three "creature" related stories to share. The first one is funny, the second is a tiny bit sad, and the third is just strange. Okay, here we go...

I was outside a few days ago, reading my book. It was a gorgeous day and really hot so I decided to sit under the awning. The river was flowing, the rain from the night before made everything lush and green. I felt relaxed and I was completely absorbed in my book. All of a sudden, I felt a "plop" on my head. I reached up, but I didn't feel anything... so I resumed reading. A few seconds later, I felt something in my hair, but I couldn't locate it. Then as I was trying to figure out the mystery, this little guy scurried onto my shoulder and started to crawl towards the opening of my v-neck. Boy, did I ever jump! Literally doing a jig with my arms flailing in every direction... which then made him do his own version of a jig. We were both dancing!!

These green spiny lizards are harmless and they never bother me. I'm not scared or squeamish. But being surprised and then feeling his little feet stepping quickly on me is a different matter altogether. I briefly had an out of body experience watching this woman skipping and jumping all over the terrace... made me laugh out loud. I don't know which one of us was more startled. Poor guy. I managed to swat him off me where he landed unharmed on the ground. We were both breathing a little easier after that little episode.

Our little Frankie has been so active lately. She follows us everywhere and getting lots of exercise. Her coat has been looking so shiny and her eyes bright and clear. When she gets stressed though, she tends to chew her paw pads. We're not sure what happened, but on Monday she started to chew. Sometimes she stepped on something prickly and she needs to get a pin or thorn out. But, she just wasn't relenting. Two days of constant chewing, her paw pad was raw and bleeding. She was being so aggressive she lost another tooth in the process. Kevin made a little sock for her and taped it all up so she couldn't gnaw it further. We decided to take her to the vet's. It appears she has an infection: we're not sure if she is gnawing because of the infection or if she has an infection due to all the gnawing. Either way, the vet gave us some cream to apply twice a day. I asked for a cone to fit over Frankie's head to prevent her from her incessant chewing. She's not impressed, let me tell ya. (our vet bill: no charge for the visit, $6 for the cream, and $13 for a powder we sprinkle over her food to help clean her teeth and hopefully preserve the few teeth she has left). The good news is her paw is healing well...  yay!

And now for our third event... a few days ago, I looked on the ground and saw this weird black creature creep forward really slowly. The movement was like a person crawling on their elbows and dragging their legs behind them. It wasn't until I got a lot closer that I realized it was a bat. I'm not sure if he was starving, dehydrated, too young, too old, or what, but Kevin quickly scooped him up and took him to a shady area in hopes he could find his way back home. Just look at this guy...

I've been busy getting the guesthouse cleaned up, all the laundry done, and baking fresh bread today. We're hosting a couple from Arizona for the next 4 nights.