My husband went off to work this morning with all the gate and front door keys, leaving me locked inside. Well, I could get out of the backdoor, but not out of the yard, not unless I climbed over the front gate – and left without the car. When he came home, much abashed, I accused him of doing a Taliban. Lucky I still have a sense of humour…

On the up-side, I received a copy of The Aware from my publishers. A peek inside, and I see why – it’s their way of telling me it has gone to a fifth printing. Yay!

Also nice was an email from my wonderful agent, telling me she thought Book 2 of The Mirage Makers was ‘unputdownable’ and lots of other nice things. She also remarked that it was a wonderful title for a wonderful book (the selection of that title gave me endless trouble, you may remember!). The MS has now been delivered and has entered the process towards publication. Whew.

Out in the garden a couple of Plantain Squirrels have been doing repeated circuits, one chasing the other: across the verandah, up the mango tree to the rambutan, down the bamboo and through the gingers, up the avocado, down the other side of the house under the longan tree, and back to verandah – all done at the pace of a cheetah on a double dose of speed and amphetamines. I suspect it was all about sex and being macho…it usually is. For pix see here.

Dennis (the birder) and I once had a strange experience with this species in the Johor mangroves. We were in a small open boat, investigating the birdlife of some of the tangle of hidden waterways, quietly paddling along, when we heard the subdued chatter of squirrels. Not one or two, but dozens and dozens of them. They came through the trees like long lines of soldier ants, one following close behind another. No squabbling, no racing, just squirrels wherever you looked. They crossed the waterway we were on by following the network of branches overhead. We counted thirty-five – but they were just the ones we saw. There was chattering all around us, as others unseen passed through the trees. After a while, they all came back again.

It was eerie. I was reminded of that children’s song: Don’t go out in the woods today…for every bear there ever was will gather there for certain, Today’s the day the teddy bears have their picnic...

Just substitute squirrel for teddy bear, and there you are. As a child I always thought there was something creepy about that song, and now I know why. The picnic was probably an orgy.