Our new tiny resident
This is a true tortoise story and there is no mention of hair or fur or knitting with tortoise hair although many people enjoyed and some people believed (go figure!) the April 1st tortoise story.
We have a new resident, a tiny tortoise, rescued by Nick when we went to the bins this morning, and it is now living in the mandalina pot beside the pool and sheltering under the lavender from the hot sun.
About the size of a matchbox
I had a tortoise before but he didn’t last long as he was massive and it is truly remarkable how much poo an adult tortoise can produce! Sticky green whirls of tortoise poo did little for the look I was aiming for in the courtyard and so he was relocated to a bahce on the other side of the village but this little tortoise will stay for a while, at least until he gets big enough to shoulder his way through a couple of blades of grass because right now he’d be hard pressed to push over a daisy.
Dwarfed by a bedding plant
This little tortoise is smaller than a matchbox and so far has made a slow circuit of his new home, which took about an hour and nibbled a section of tomato and eaten a weed. If he settles in the garden he can stay and is he appears unhappy (how would one tell!) we’ll export him to a nice quiet field somewhere.
Unless of course Evils discovers him. In which case an emergency evacuation would be in order but I doubt he would attract Evils attention, he doesn’t make the right type of movement and anyway Evils is entranced with the swallows that are nest building under the eaves at the moment. They are fighting the sparrows for territory and so there are sudden swooping skirmishes over the courtyard and pool and Evils passes the time by patiently sitting on top of the outside tap housing with his mouth open waiting for some unwary combatant to fly too low!
My much loved wisteria
On the other side of the garden my wisteria has bloomed. It has been a long wait – three years – but finally it has flowered in cascades of pale purple and blue flowers which smell fantastic. I tortured David with them this morning, he claimed a few years ago that the wisteria was dead and he offered to take it off my hands. I didn’t fall for his cunning ploy and now I can smugly pointed out my wall of flowers to him. He once caught me out on a pricey grape vine which he rehomed because he claimed my courtyard was the wrong environment for it; he didn’t catch me on the wisteria and I am very glad, it has been worth the wait to have it flower so beautifully.
All that is left to do this beautiful afternoon is watch the garden flower, enjoy the sunshine and watch Nick get stressed over which type of food to offer the tortoise! Oh and then we will have to name him.
The wisteria in April
Karen. Great post, as always. We loved our time in Kirazli – your house is just stunning and now your wisteria is out, well…..it’s just about perfect. Oh, I think I am falling for your new little matchbox-sized friend. Look after the little one.
PS Are you sure he’s a he?
It’s too soon to tell if it’s a boy, if one can ever tell with tortoises, but despite it’s size it looks kinda manly, I’m thinking of calling it Jack. K xxxx
Lovely tortoise tale, Karen. Isn’t s/he a cutie? Your wisteria is glorious and I’m filled with envy. I’d love one, but they just don’t do well in our location in Wales – too exposed and cold….
The shell of a male tortoise is concave on the underside towards the rear. If you think about it this is kind of essential.
So I gather! My little tortoise is getting frisky already, he was looking longingly at a pebble yesterday. Tortoises are creatures with a great deal of self belief, I’ve seen tiny ones trying to mount females the size of a small car, in those cases having a concave bit on your shell won’t help, but they keep trying.
That was me! I totally believed the tortoise hair story – what was I thinking?
Your new fellow is very cute [g]
Half my family believed the tortoise story! K xxxx