Garden Denizens and then Some

I am for the most part fond of my animal neighbors.
There are a few I could do without*, but most are harmless
and even cute.

*Wasps, slugs, mosquitoes, gnats, flies, racoons, skunks,
to name just a few.
And I happen to like non-poisonous snakes, by the way.

After the first storm a couple of weeks ago,
we found a couple of gray tree frogs on both the
back and front doors.

Aren't they the cutest things?

Click on the picture to see the Eastern Bluebird.
This is a male.

I finally got around to putting the bluebird house
up on one of the deck posts and the bluebirds returned.

A male Goldfinch sits on the butterfly bush.
Click on the picture for a better look.

This weekend a 1929 Ford Tri-Motor came to town,
offering rides to interested people.
As usual, the plane (the plane!) flew over the neighborhood.
The cost of a plane ride is $50 for members and
$60 for non-members.

This plane was used in the movie "Public Enemies"
about John Dillinger with Johnny Depp.

I think I'll stay on the ground, thank you very much.

Last fall all of our fish succumbed to Ich, that dreaded
disease of the aquarium.

When our grandson asked where the fish had gone,
we told him that the fish had gone on vacation.

After several months of having an empty aquarium,
we cleaned everything well and allowed it to cycle
before adding three platies.

Two weeks later I changed out some water
and checked on the fish.

But what is that in the picture?

Click on it to see.

Platies are like tribbles.
Those things are born pregnant.

Now we have three baby fish.

Now, what we gonna do?

Those darn fish.

Gardens and Spiders and Fishies, Oh My!

After months of non-stop rain, to the point that we were considering building an ark, to weeks of non-stop sunshine (well, except at night, but you get the idea), the stars and planets finally aligned so that my dear husband agreed to help me plant in the garden today.

These poor plants had been sitting in pots on my front porch since the end of June. Poor, poor homeless plants.

Well, at least now they have a home. Let's just hope they survived the ordeal, shall we?

Oh, did I say that my husband would be planting them?

Silly me. It turns out that his idea of helping me was to dig the holes and then to step back while I did all the rest of the work.

And did I mention that it was a tad bit muddy today?

Or that I am sick?

Well, at least he 'helped'.

Two dogwood seedlings are in the cinder block in the foreground. If they survive, they will be planted out in the back of the yard.

If you click on the photo you will see an old push reel mower under the stairs. That mower, which is missing the roller, sadly does not work. However, it once belonged to my grandfather, from whom I inherited my can-do spirit. In addition, it was free, as no one bought it at the estate auction.

It doesn't look like much now, but hopefully these plants will take off and flourish.

In this bed are obedient plants, artemisia, blackberry lilies, peony, echinacea, mallow, yellow yarrow, pink yarrow and garden phlox.

Surprise lilies, peonies, virgin's bower and New York Iron weed grace the narrow bed to the south of the new deck.




And what is this I spy?

It is an argiope trifasciata or banded orb weaver spider that I spy.

This beauty* is quite large, with the body being an inch long (and yes, I measured it with a ruler - carefully).

*Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder.
I prefer to behold spiders from a safe distance.
Let's just say that you, my dear readers, owe me.





I will admit that the webs of orb weavers are a work of art. The zig-zag pattern in the center of the web is quite distinct.





And now let's move inside to something a little bit less 'icky' if we may.


I have taken over the care and maintenance of the fish tank.
Of course, Minx loves to help me feed the fish and change their water.
The fish aren't as thrilled about that, though.

At the current time we have eight platyfish, though one is injured and not doing well, and one Chinese algae eater in the tank.
As this is a 20 gallon tank, we could safely have one more fish in the tank (figure one inch of fish per one gallon of water).







The fish tank at night.
We have a blue light illuminating the tank and several glow-in-the-dark 'plants'.

The platyfish swim up to meet me, expecting me to feed them.

Sorry, dears, but I'm just filming you now.

The fish swim at night.

Swimming with the Fish

Soon after our dear Midnight passed away, the Foodie daughter asked - once again - if she could have an aquarium. Now, given the fact that our Middy was an industrious and single-minded cat, an aquarium filled with little swimming bits of goodness was a very bad idea. The dear kitty would never have rested until he had gotten his teeth on those small tidbits.

However, we were now a Middy-less home and I relented. Of course, I added the caveat that the daughter had to pay for the aquarium, fish, etc. and take care of the thing. (Silly mom! What was I thinking?!)

In early April the daughter and I went out and got her 20 gallon aquarium kit. She decided on a Pirates of the Caribbean theme for the aquarium.

We followed the instructions as closely as possible and allowed the aquarium time to "cycle". I still don't know what that means.

Fast forward six weeks (and six dead Glofish(tm) later). We are kinda, sorta getting the hang of this thing. In that time I have realized that

1) we are actually taking care of the aquarium, not the fish,

2) it is very easy to kill small fish

and 3) I am much more involved in this process than I ever meant to be.

Minx likes to watch the fish. Happily, he isn't too keen on getting to the little snacks.

This past week the daughter brought home three "Mickey Mouse" fish (or Platyfish). These fish are very peaceful (read: shy) and spend most of their time trying to blend into the background.

Then this past Sunday I got an unexpected duty. My dear daughter informed me that while she was out with friends I was to babysit my first great-grandchild - otherwise known as a baby fish, or fry.

Ah, isn't he/she cute?

Unfortunately, the fry have to be separated from the other fish as the fry are apparently considered to be quite the tasty snack by their parents.





Now, that is a face that only a mother could love!