Post 48: The pigeon is a dove

A message from a friend with a science background this morning assures me my avian visitor yesterday was a dove, not a pigeon. I’m delighted to be wrong. I’d rather have a visiting dove, for symbolic reasons if no other. My friend Melody, in the USA, had also made a comment on my FaceBook page, that a pair of  mourning doves  have been visiting annually since her husband died.  I had not heard of mourning doves, and did a bit of investigating.  We do not, it seems, have mourning doves in Australia. My dove appears to be the spotted dove,  
Streptopelia chinensis and I think female.

She paid me another quick visit today. I had no time to roll back the fly screen before she departed, but a visit is a visit.

The episode has called to mind a gag from The Goon Show in which Neddie Seagoon, on a visit to beach, comments on the 'nice pigeons'. His companion (Eccles, maybe?) replies "They're not pigeons, they're gulls" and Neddie retorts "Boys or gulls, they're nice pigeons"!  It must be 60 years since I heard this, and it is the only specific gag I remember from The Goons. I'm not certain my dove is a girl, but it is not a pigeon!

While waiting for my dove to revisit, I progressed my counted piece a little, and sketched in the next stage. 


My bruises are still fairly fierce and sore to touch but I thought it time to take a short walk around the Hameji Garden. This time I drove there. The garden occupies a relatively small section of Adelaide’s South Parkland.

The garden is a gift to Adelaide from the Japanese city of Himeji.






I should have realised that on a fine warm day in the school holidays others would have the same idea. Just outside the entrance a mother was playing a kind of skittles game with her two children. There was plenty of room around them for distancing.

These bicycles outside the entrance turned out to belong to what I guess was a grandmother and granddaughter..

The Hameji Garden is beautifully landscaped for contemplation and rest. There are narrow, winding paths, water features, open spaces, rocks, stones  and  sculptured plants.

Usually when I visit I meet no more than one or two others. Today there were probably another 10-12 people there, all keeping respectful distance, but I decided not to stay.  It is great to know the garden is used and appreciated. I'd rather, however, walk where there are fewer people, or more open spaces.

Instead I did a short circuit around the outside and returned to my embroidery.

I made good progress on the parrots. I really like the way they are shaping up. I'm looking forward to completing the second parrot tomorrow.