Middle-aged and muddling through. With a touch of irony - or something - mirror selfies are a lot easier with mirrorless cameras than they were with slrs.

A friend not only to fishermen. The Jolly Sailor is a friend to all. Sometimes smoke issues from his pipe. And sometimes the boat rocks upon the waves.

I thought I’d maintain my vertical line of Skitten pictures. Seen here on its balcony that it loves.

The strange, Plutonian flowers that @withoutaleaf’s ma left us before they moved back to India - years ago now - have begun to bloom and it’s going to be a bumper year. This is especially enjoyable given my indifferent gardening. It’s still sunny out there so I propped up a sketch pad as a reflector to ease the contrast.

Spoiled Boi got a comfy spot provided under my morning balcony coffee chair. Taking a load off those big paws.

Skitten was ill recently - which is most unlike it. And kind of strange given that @withoutaleaf and I have had not even a sniffle this year thanks to all of the anti-covid measures also protecting us from common viruses. Its eyes were streaming and it was sneezing up a storm. Luckily after some vet-prescribed eye-drops and pills, it’s right as rain again, full of beans and following me down to the kitchen every single time - ever hopeful of treats.

Balcony Birds No. 5. I used to be confused about what this was. It’s not a turtle dove. It’s a red-eyed dove - cunningly named after a feature that’s really difficult to spot with the naked eye. The easier way to tell is that they’re much larger than the Cape Turtle Dove, which is really quite a little thing. The Red-Eyed Dove is almost pigeon sized. It also has a pinky shade to its head and breast while the turtle dove is… dove-grey. They really are lovely, gentle things. Even if they’re not exactly geniuses.

Trinket woke up early and was ready for tea.

Skitten in the clouds. I thought I might post the one of Skitten yawning to show its single remaining fang. But it might not approve.

The sleepy midday Crumb.