Bumblebee Mob

4 December

Small brown papier mache figurines in a paddock getting rained on.

Run into the house. Bumblebees start appearing from nowhere. They mob together in hovering clusters of a dozen or so looking like 3-D balls of endometrial cells. This corner of the lounge smells strangely like lavender. That must be what the attraction is. (It's at this point that I figure someting strange is going on as bumblebees are loners and don't hang out in groups like other bees. I make a point of saying this)

I wonder where they're coming from? Closing the windows only serves to increase their numbers -how can this be? Following the direction of their flight path leads me to the source -a crack in an internal wall cavity, hooked up to the external ventilation system. Plugging up the hole and opening the windows now works to disperse the bees.

However, there is a new threat/attraction. The giant green gummy lizard. It's stretchy and globby and tastes like lime (if you lick it) and most of the time it just clings to the wall like a mounted trophy. But if you look away and then quickly back, it always changes position. But it's not alive; it wont move if you get close and you can poke it but your finger just rebounds like from a gummy bear. Sometimes it sneaks in between the wall boards but it always leaves a paw visible so you know where to find it. It's quite a talking point. People come to visit us just to see our new "pet".