A garden Lizard preparing a nest for its eggs, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

The female garden lizard selects a spot warmed by the sun, digs the soil and lays its eggs. It covers up the soil and goes away. The soft rubbery eggs hatch and the tiny lizards emerge and fend for themselves.

Childrens park, Yahellawaththe, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

A quiet contryside park for children to play and listen to birdsong.

Scorpion orchids in bloom.

These Scorpion orchids are in full bloom in our garden at Avissawella now.

'Black-capped' or 'Black-crested' Bulbul.

I saw this relatively rare type of Bulbul at Yahellawaththe, in Avissawella, Photo by Charaka on a Fuji Finepix.

Wooden frame used for a 'pillow-fight' contest, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

A 'pillow-fighting' contest is held as part of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrations in Sri Lanka. The two contestants sit astride the wooden trunk, facing each other. Each has a pillow on one hand and the other hand holds his hip on the same side. The idea is to knock the oppponent down from the bar using the pillow as a weapon. The contest creates a lot of hilarity among the spectators. My brother Saba, resident in Germany from 1972 introduced this in one of their village fairs. It was received very enthusiastically.