Battles on all fronts, it seems

While the world outside is burning (and rightly so), the world in The Courtyard at La Palmerosa is suffering an invasion.

Both of these are aliens - one is a huge jerk*, the other is actually a fictional character

Last week, our neighbour texted everyone on our block WhatsApp group with a photo of the fox kit that was living behind the shed in her garden, ostensibly with its mother, because that's typically how these things work. Apparently said kit has reached the Age Of Learning How To Fox, and is now permitted to go on supervised field trips. Yippee.

So, what seemed to have happened the other day, is that the kit somehow made it into our garden, couldn't get out, tried to dig under the Dubiously Built Fence at the back, failed (but not before kicking dirt all over everything we have growing over there), panicked, panicked some more, then figured out how to get out, and went home. 

Cut to late last week when our upstairs neighbour texted us, asking if we were watching the baby fox out back. Naturally, we headed out, and hilarity ensued (for varying definitions of "hilarity.") It seemed that, this time, it followed the above-outlined pattern, except for the "figured out how to get out, and went home" part. To make a long story short, after chasing it out a few times, Farmer Goth finally put out our step ladder behind the Compost Dalek, figuring that since it's a cat in a dog's body, it would be smart enough to scale the damned thing and GTFO. Which it did.

We have since had several discussions about Fox Mitigation Tactics, but it seems to be smart enough to know that we don't want it, here, since there haven't been any replays of this episode. Let's hope.

MEANWHILE...

Elsewhere in the Courtyard, we had a play in four acts:

Our First Strawberry: A Biography

Act I: Birth

Act II: School

Act III: Work

Act IV: Death

A delicious tale, really. Full of the sweetness of life, and the glory of giving everything to your true purpose. The next one is already blushing, and we couldn't be more excited. 

Since the weather continues to be shitey, I've basically not spent any time out there, but I can report the following:

The peas, my god the peas! So many pods. Such excite.

One of the courgettes has a proper flower, so we're getting at least one squash.

The tomatoes and marigolds are getting along swimmingly, and the nasturtiums are finally starting to think about draping over the planter in a satisfyingly dramatic fashion.

Snails like radishes.

*I mean...I get that it's young and it panicked, but can't it do that in someone else's garden?