Where I find Joy in Life.

I have thought long and hard about where I find joy in my life, the things that make me smile and feel as though the days have been better than those past.
Today was one of those days where this was reaffirmed in my eyes, through several happenings.
The first thing I had happen, upon walking around the corner of my house, my breath caught, my heart sped up and I began to sweat with fear.  I saw a long tail against the back of the house and could see nothing more of a creature that was hiding behind a bucket.  Thinking it was a tiger snake (very venomous) I cautiously moved forward, only to discover it was a blue tongued lizard.  For those who don't live in Australia, these lizards are the largest of the skink family and usually harmless. They are known for keeping the snail and pest populations down in the gardens, hense a good critter to have around.  This particular lizard has been living under my house for the last 3 years, she is due to give birth within the next 3 weeks and may have up to 20 young.  Her offspring become very self relient within the first 3 days and will not stick around.  I am very lucky that both my cats respect her presence and don't bother her at all. Infact the will take a wide berth around her and let her do her own thing.  This year Lizzy measures around 40cm long, I haven't weighed her as I don't believe in handling her, pregnant or not.

The second thing that made me smile and feel like my world was a good place to be, was watching the ducklings puddle around in their little tub.  They are all quirky and have unique personalities.  When you see them together it can be a bit of a surprise, they are all the same age, from the same clutch of eggs and yet they range in size so much.  I have given them all names (from Outlander characters) and each seems aware of what I call them.  The biggest has begun to get his feathers in and at present looks very scruffy.  The photo below shows them at just one week old,  they are now 4 weeks old and have at least tripled in size.

Something else that has given me the opportunity to breathe,  my son who had the accident last year finally has his license back, his new car is registered and at the end of the week he will be back on the road.  Finally I can cry freedom for us both.  It has been a long and testing time for us and I believe we have grown stronger for the experience