Wee beasties

There are pretty geckos here. They are shy and scuttle up the wall or behind a curtain if you get too close. We're fond of Freddy, a cheeky Madagascan fody. He knows his way in and out of the house and often comes into the kitchen to look for crumbs......

But that's when we stop looking at the 'wee beasties' through rose-tinted spectacles.....

The other geckos are much more intrusive and ugly. They get into everything. Our kettle and toasters have covers now. We've boiled a few in the dishwasher . They mess everywhere too. This would make good glue - it sticks to granite, tiles, glass wood, plastic etc.

Spiders run boldly into the house and then disappear, reappearing when you least expect them to e.g. when you're reaching for your towel. A lot of screaming goes on in our house We have been told they are all harmless - so why do they give us the shivers?

In the evenings, mosquitoes, enormous cockroaches, and sometimes flying ants or leathery rhino beetles come flying in. We take it in turns now to swat the cockraoches with a flyswatter - more screaming if we miss and they run towards us (yes both of us!).

We found a monster 12 cm long centipede lurking on a skirting board. It had two vicious looking spikes at its rear end. It clung tenaciously to the end of the broom, not wanting a flying lesson, but on the second swing, it sailed off into the bush below our house. Wasps make mud nests on curtains. Tiny ants get into the sealed sugar container....

Then out of the blue, three dragonflies grace us with their presence. One appeared in the kitchen, another in a bedroom. They stayed for a while, then flew away. I found a third one dead, but intact, with its wings spread. I was able to study it close up and was blown away by its beauty and intricacy; its iridescent wings, its little face, composed of many parts, the lacy web of its wings. Having these visit felt like a privilege.