Almost Paradise

Stayed at home today with a slight cold. By the afternoon, I was feeling a lot better so I went out into the yard and took some pictures.

Even in January, there are some nice flowers. I got the orchids from my parents’ yard when they sold their house and moved to a condo. I hope I can manage to keep them alive. Orchids are notoriously tough and forgiving, though, so I have a chance.

I think this is a native ‘ilima but I’m not positive. When I bought it, I think the label on the pot at Home Depot said it was a foreign relative, not a native. Either way, it’s pretty.

I first saw one of these green-and-pink geckoes about 12 years ago in Kailua-Kona. Green and pink?! I thought I was hallucinating. Your typical Hawai’i gecko is gray or brown. These critters are gold dust day geckoes, originally from Madagascar. This particular gecko and his relatives have been living outside our house for the past few years. Cute little guy, isn’t he?

Judy really loves animals. I have a feeling that if we lived in the country, we’d have farm animals. As it is, we have two dogs, a cockatiel, and five box turtles (three adults and two babies). The adults are in an enclosure out in back. In fact, the turtle pen is the centerpiece of the backyard.

This is Chester, the lone adult male. Note the yellow and red markings on his neck and forelegs. Male box turtles are usually more colorful than the females.

This is Molly. She’s the mother of the two baby turtles, having laid their eggs back in summer 2003, only a little while after we got her. Female turtles can retain sperm for months or even years until they decide it’s time to lay, so it’s anyone’s guess who the father was or how long ago they’d mated.

This is Abigail. My co-worker Beryl heard that we had turtles, and asked if we would be willing to take one in, as she was having trouble caring for it. Abigail (formerly Myrtle) had just been wormed when she came to us, and since then she’s done well and put on weight.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 7th, 2005 at 5:30 pm and is filed under Animals, Hiking/Outdoors, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.