Bee Eaters are commonly seen flying high around here but they are shy and you never get a good look at their lovely colours.  However this evening, one flew into our window and dazed itself.  Our dog alerted us to it by barking, but he didn´t attack it.

I went to pick it up gently and from nowhere one of our cats pounced on it.  Fortunately, she didn´t grab it and I was able to quickly rescue it.  It appeared to be uninjured - just very shocked naturally.

Not knowing much about these birds we felt the best we could do for it was take it to some land out of our cats´ range and release it into a dense bit of undergrowth, as Bee Eaters nest in ground burrows rather than trees.  We just hope that there are no other preditors around and it recovers its´ strength overnight.  It´s in the hands of the Goddess now.

I had to photograph it before we released it - we may never see another one this close again.

Just to indicate how hot it's been here today, I am posting this picture of my lovely Pippy, taken this afternoon, in her most chilled-out mood.  She was totally wiped out by the heat and here she is showing off her most relaxed pose.

I thought these pictures were so lovely.  I can't believe I actually took them in my garden.  Hope they make your day sunny, as they do mine. 

Made myself take a little walk today and to make it more interesting I picked wild flowers for my altar.  I counted over 30 types of flowers and flowering grasses in this bunch,  With all the unseasonal rain we have had in Portugal, the countryside is blooming beautiful.

I feel so blessed to live somewhere that has spring flowers flowering everywhere.  Take a look at the roses that scramble over the walls.  I wish I knew what variety they are - the scent is deep and rich, the petals flecked from magenta to burgundy to pale pink.  I couldn´t resist gathering a bunch for the house, and as a bonus I´m saving all the falling petals for scented pot pourri.

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