New frog

I'm happy to report that my remaining fish appear to be recovering well. Their Dorsal fins are up, their tails are healing, and they are eagerly consuming the fish flakes in the morning. I now have twelve fish, not counting the glass one. And now I have a glass frog too, or rather it arrived at the same time as my glass fish, as a Christmas present from my adorable nephew (who is now taller than me, I can't wait until he grows even bigger and I can make him do all of the heavy lifting.) Here's what the card with the frog says: To the Chinese, frogs represent the lunar, yin principle. It was once believed that frogs came from the moon (well, considering the freezing thing, I can believe that), hatching from eggs that fall from the sky with the dew, so their images were often used in rain ceremonies (hence the snow?) Like all frogs, our little green friend symbolizes joy, luck and transformation.

New fish

Today was a good day because there were no dead fish to wake up to or come home to. And now I can introduce my new fish, which was a Christmas present from my lovely niece (it's made of glass.) It says on the card that came with it: In China, the delicate (don't we know) and lively (when it's not sick) goldfish is revered as a symbol of wealth ($0.15 at PetCo) and good fortune (not necessarily for the goldfish) - in fact, its Chinese name - jin-yu - sounds like "gold in abundance". Traditionally eight yellow and one black goldfish are placed in an aquarium to attract money (not sure how the silver and white goldfish effect the equation.) But having a school of our little guys in the house couldn't hurt (unless you kill them en-mass by mistake and it breaks your heart.) By the way, isn't it interesting that 'fish' is one of the few nouns in English which is the same for the singular and the plural. Can you name them all?

Milky water

I woke up this morning to three dead fish, including my biggest fish which I had had the longest. Very depressing, but I chucked them out in the garden and went to work. I don't think I can get bereavement leave for dead fish, maybe for a dead cat, I have a very understanding workplace, but not a fish or even three. I was pretty upset about the big fish, although not surprised because it looked rather sick last night. Also this morning the water was very milky looking and it still was when I got home. I asked a friend of mine who used to have a lot of fish and he says that the milky color is due to the water conditioner and not to worry about it. I don't really believe him, on the other hand I don't want to do any more water changes because I don't want to keep shocking the fish. I set up the pumps to make sure I was maximizing the aeration before I went to work this morning because the fish were all at the top of the tank looking like they were gasping for air. When I got home 12 hours later the water was still milky but the fish look better. I don't see any that look like they are ready to go belly up on me. I hope not. I still have all of the four babies that were born last summer.

Early thaw

I was going to call this post "January thaw" but then I realized it is not January yet. Not quite. Usually we have a big thaw around mid January which is why I thought of that. It got really warm today, I'm not sure exactly how warm here but it was over 61 degrees at 4PM. Most of the snow is gone although there are still bits hanging out around the edges, and all of the ice is gone from the pond. I lost another fish overnight, I threw it in the yard and I think Squeakers may have eaten it when I let her out to enjoy the warm day. Most of the other fish are doing much better, they are swimming around and they ate and I think they will be ok. Unfortunately my biggest fish, which I feel rather attached to, is not looking well. I really hope it makes it through the night, I dosed it with fish medicine and tried to hand feed it some fish pellets but it is floating near the top and not eating and kind of listing to one side, although sometimes they just do that for no reason. I don't know what else I can do.

Sick fish

I set up my brand new 29 gallon tank with a light hood. I moved all of the fish back into it, but they are still real sick. They are covered with ick. So far I have lost three fish, there is another one that looks like it is not doing so well. You can see the blue bottle of fish medicine in the back ground, I don't know if it is doing any good. I guess the best thing I can do at this point is nothing, but it doesn't feel good. The ick is kind of like thrush, white stuff growing on their bodies. I hope they are better tomorrow morning.

Dead fish

Today has been quite a traumatic day in the fish world. Yesterday I cleaned the small tank and replaced a third of the water, thinking I was doing a good thing by the fish. Unfortunately, there must have been a contaminant which got in the water and when I got up this morning I noticed that the fish looked real bad. I moved them all into one of my pots in fresh water and did a complete water change on the tank, but it was too much for one of the gold fish and he died. I put him out in the garden. I also lost all of the guppies which I was taking care of for my sister's kids. Now I have to decide whether to tell them that their guppies died or just get new replacement guppies on the theory that they will never know the difference. Or pubish it on my blog and see if they are reading. I looked into fixing my bigger fish tank, but then I went to the pet store and saw that I could get exactly the same tank for only $23, which ment that fixing it really isn't worth it. In the end I got a 29 gallon tank with a light, which is nice because I won't have to keep it near the window. I am going to put all of the fish in the new tank which will also make my life a lot easier. I also bought fish medicine at the pet store, God knows what's in it but it seems to be working the fish have already perked up quite a bit. There is one in particular which looks like it won't make it through the night, but the others are improving. I set up the new tank, I will transfer the fish first thing next morning. Thank goodness they're carp, any other fish would be dead after all of this stress.

Frogger ho ho ho

Frogger is having a very merry time showing off the Christmas card he got from his close personal friend, the president elect. In other news, I came home late at night (for me) on Christmas eve to discover my new fish tank leaking all over the floor. Turns out that the glass floor of the fish tank cracked, probably due to the change in temperature and the fact that I had not properly supported it. Which is shameful considering I should know better since I know how much water weighs and I'm very familiar with power laws. Bad, bad mathematician. I am going to ask the people at the local glass store if they can cut me a new piece because it looks like it can be repaired and it would be silly to throw the whole thing out. In the mean time, everyone (fish) is in the small 10 gallon tank, along with some guppies that I took from my sister, so it is quite over crowded and will have to be cleaned at least once a week if not more. Good thing I wasn't on vacation or the fish would be dead! Next time I will make sure to properly support the tank.

Tomten

One of my loyal fans (and oh yes she's my sister too) reminded me that the paw prints I saw the other night MAY have actually been the foot prints of a Tomten patrolling the grounds late a night. A Tomten is a sort of house elf and precursor to Santa Claus which we were introduced to as children through the wonderful books "The Tomten" and "The Tomten and the fox" adapted by Astrid Lindgren (who also wrote Pipi Longstockings) and illustrated by Harald Wiberg. The photo above is from the cover of the book, it is copyrighted but I hope the copyright owner will consider this use free advertising. And it would be wonderful if I had a house elf sneaking around and fixing things in the middle of the night, unfortunately I haven't seen any evidence of mysterious repairs. I'd say I'll keep my eyes open, but the Tomten is one of those magic creatures which goes away or worse starts making mischief if you spy on it, so best to leave it alone.

Decorations

Looks like I don't have to worry about decorating my Christmas tree any time too soon. It would still look kind of neat if it had lights shining out from under the snow but it's too late for that now and I guess it will have to wait for next year. I hope the snow doesn't damage the branches of my little tree in a micro-environment version of the devastation that has occurred up in New Hampshire over the past weeks. The temperature is supposed to go up to the forties tomorrow so it should all melt.

My humidifier

I got an underwater filter with my new fish tank. The fish tank used to be home to some turtles, and they probably don't need as much aeration as fish because they are surface breathers, but I figured that the fish need some bubbles so I jerry-rigged the thing so that the output is above the water level and makes a little fountain. I think this set up, and also just having two fish tanks in the house, is helping to keep the humidity up in my house. I haven't had the severe dryness problems I usually have in the winter, and it wasn't as bad last winter either. I cleaned out both of the tanks this weekend, using my special siphon to suck the fish poo out of the bottom of the tank as instructed by the fish store people. I am cleaning the tanks every two weeks, so far the fish look fine, I'll keep a close eye on their fins for signs of stress. Supposedly a lot of people mistakenly think their fish are canablising each other because there fins look chewed off, but really it is becasue of bad water quality.

Rockwell

A former roommate of mine named the local flicker Rockwell. Maybe this is the same one, probably not because it has been a long time since the bird was named. The flickers are especially amusing in the spring when they are young and stupid and haven't figured out how to perch on the stand yet. Today is the winter solstice, and I spent it in bed sick (still) with a cold (which may be the flu, although not THE flu becuase I got a shot for that one but some secondary flu of lesser import) watching the wet snow fall outside my window. Thankfully my neighbors very well behaved children shovled out my car, although I still anticipate and unpleasant slog to work tomorrow.

Champagne snow

We had a big snow storm here, as did much of the country. I am told that this is the best kind of snow for skiing, light and solid crystals which we don't often get in New England. Unfortunately I am still sick, I even had to get the neighbor's kids to shovel out my walk for me I was so wiped out. Tomorrow we get more snow, but it is going to be wet and sticky and ruin the consistency, oh well. This photo is of the pond, you can just see the edge of the rock wall next to the pathway in the forground and the edge of the rock wall I've been building for the new pool in the upper left. Otherwise it's kind of like the polar bear in the snow joke.

Early morning

This is the morning glow when I woke up and went to work. The lot is where the fox and the turkeys live behind my house when they are not off looking for food. I left work today and came back home as soon as possible because I was afraid of getting caught in the latest snow storm and because I had a horrid cold and wanted to get some sleep. Which I will do now, again.

Xmas tree

This is my Christmas tree. I dug it out of the ground in New Hampshire about seven years ago when it was just a tiny little thing. It's still pretty small, maybe three feet high, and it stays outside all winter. It is some kind of fir tree. I am thinking that maybe this year I will put lights on it, if I can find were I stashed them last time I was overcome by the urge to decorate a tree. Maybe this weekend. I have kept the tree in its same pot for a long time because I don't want it to grow. I have another tree in my house, a Norfolk pine I think which isn't hardy. I made the mistake of transplanting it to a bigger pot a few years ago and now it has taken over a large section of my living room. Luckily I still have about three times the space I need in this house so it doesn't really matter, but it was a useful lesson.

Paw prints

I woke up this morning to the first real snow fall of the year. I was taking pictures of it from the second floor window and I noticed paw prints in the snow going up the walk-way stairs in my back yard and circling the pond. The snow fell last night and there were no human prints around these. They look too big to be a cats, although that can be deceiving, they weren't very clear and foot prints can grow causing big foot evidence and the like. I don't think they are a dog's prints because dogs aren't usually that subtitle, there would be a whole mess of prints running back and forth. I've decided they must be from the fox, might as well believe that. If you look close you can see a paw print right at the upper edge of the wedge of the upper pool.

Cat tv

I finally went out and bought some new bird seed. I hadn't refilled the bird feeder all fall, I hope the birds weren't counting on it too much. I figure that now that the weather is really getting cold I have to continue to fulfill my obligations to my feathered friends, also it helps keep Squeakers amused. I haven't seen any birds on them yet, but I only filled them this morning and I have this silly habit of going to work during the week days and coming home in the dark.

Silver fish

This is a photo (from above) of one of my two little silver fish. They are just tweens now, I have four tween fish total, the other two are gold and white with gold spots. I am curious now to see if the silver fish will change colors as they get older, given the color changing history of this group. Today I went to the pet store to buy bird food and kitty litter and fish pellets. I walked past the big tank of feeder fish and I had to resist the temptation to take them all home. It's like a visit to the pound now that I've bounded with my own fish.

All grown up

The turkey family came back, fortuitously just when my niece and nephew were visiting. Since they are from far enough into the city to never see turkeys they were totally thrilled. The male turkey is big enough to call, and they recorded the turkey call on their cell phones, the clever little monkeys. My niece sent me her recording, and I will post it when I figure out how. The turkeys are all really big, I couldn't tell which one was mom anymore. I wonder if they will stay together through the winter. And where they stay. And why their legs don't freeze. I should look it up. Maybe they are hunkered down on the empty but forested lot next to my house.

Imbalance

Poor devil duck, his shameful secret is that he doesn't float correctly like a real rubber ducky is supposed to. Maybe that's why he's so mean all of the time. I tried filling him up with water, hoping that that would act as ballast, but it didn't work and he keeps flopping over. I guess the horns are weighing him down so it's not his fault, but I must say it is quite a disappointment. I took him out of the tank so that his secret would be safe. Then I published his secret on the web.

Rain storm

We are close enough to the ocean that we were off the edge of the ice storm, we just got a lot of rain but no ice on the trees. Still, I skipped work, didn't seem to make sense to deal with the mess. By mid-day the weather was really quite warm and the pond was as full as it can get, as you can see from the photo. No frog sitings though, it wasn't quite warm enough. Maybe on Monday, the weather man says it will be 56 degrees. I tried to call my friend in southern New Hampshire and it went directly to some sort of voice mail that she doesn't subscribe to, so I suspect she is deep in the ice.

Fish eyes

Can the fish in the tank see me watching them? Are their eyes that good? And do they mind the flash? Probably they do mind the flash, I know that fish hide from the light and I have seen them hiding under the leaves when I was trying to find them and fish them out of the pool, so maybe their eyes are better than I imagine.

Winter home

I took the iron frog in for the winter, I'm not sure whether that was strictly necessary, of course this frog won't freeze but it does rust. It already has one rust spot on it's back and I think that sitting under the freezing and melting snow would make it worse. I put it on the low shelf of the stand for the small fish tank. Actually the small tnK and stand and iron frog were gifts from my friend in NH. Truthfully I kind of took the frog of my own initiative but she said it was ok.

Final fish

The picture says it all. But I'll say some more anyway. This is the last of the fish from the pool which my friend helped me catch. He has been checking during the day and there definitely no more in there. Which confirms the fact that I no longer have ANY fish with even a TOUCH of black on them. How odd. I wonder if the two silver baby fish will turn gold when they grow up.

Squeakers in the snow

Squeakers contemplating her cruel fate, hoping that just hoping will make it warm and dry outside. The white spots on her fur are snow flakes but they haven't penetrated the outer coat. Excellent jacket she has on there but I know her feet get cold. Which makes me wonder what the foxes and squirrels do, they must get cold feet too or is it just something we've breed into our domestic pets? I hear there is a shortage of acorns this fall, almost none for some reason, so if you like squirrels put some food out for the poor little rats. A friend of mine emailed me a wonderful link today, enjoy.

First snow

Last night we had our first snow. Not very much, but it didn't melt all day. It must have been hovering near freezing because the pond never froze either, it had the consistency of a giant slushy. A giant slushy made out of pond water, yuck. My friend was by during the day last week on one of the warm days and he saw one of the frogs out. Pretty amazing, I wonder what the exact temperature is to wake them back up again. Maybe it depends on how frozen they are. Now I REALLY think that was the final frog siting, but considering how crazy the weather is in New England I guess it's perfectly possible that we have another one of those 70 degree thaws in January and then I'm sure they'd be out again.

Fish poster

My sister has been scanning all of the old slides that my dad took when we were kids. She found this poster which I drew for my mom when I was little, I'm not sure the exact age. It says "to mom" on the bottom left corner although it is kind of hard to see because the exposure is difficult, the slides have started to deteriorate. This poster appears to demonstrate an early obsession with fish on my part, it also appears to be heavily inspired by the reading I was doing at the time, I'm guessing one of my favorite books, "red fish, blue fish", by Dr. Seuss. A true classic and a sure sign of early good taste and a predilection for the absurd. I imagine mom was thrilled with the scientific rigor of the whole thing. It also demonstrates the beginnings of my life long struggle with spelling, recently made much less difficult by the fact that everything these days includes a built in spell checker, including this blogging software. Meanwhile, my cat Squeakers is suffering from some scary hallucinations in the other room, I'd better go investigate.

Fish art

I discovered that the best fish photos of fish in the tank are taken by looking down from the top, since that way the glass doesn't get in the way and cause reflections. Of course that assumes that you don't want the reflections off of the glass, I suppose that too could be a desired effect. Anyway this particular photo has a nice clean look along with some lenses distortions caused by the whorls in the water coming out of the pump. Kind of neat. I still haven't taken the time to load photo shop onto my machine (and then to learn it, which is even more time.) Maybe I should try doing some watercolors of my fish and my pond. Really that would have been something to do last summer. Where did the time go? So little time, and so much of it wasted.

Sneaky gator

The sneaky gator has snuck over to the fish tank in the middle of the night and now he appears to be trying to get in and get at the fish. Luckily I found him while he was only in the planning stages and removed him from the area. I'll have to keep an eye on him in the future. Good thing the fox can't get into the house because I don't think I could take that on. Although cute and furry usually goes a long way for making people like you.

Art glass

I'm getting up in the dark these days and leaving the house just as dawn is breaking, then getting home at night. Pretty tiring and depressing. When I got up this morning there was ice on the pool, just on the top layer. It forms in long triangular patterns, not quite sure why, it is very pretty. The pool has been keeping its level quite well since I took the pump out, I want to keep it filled all winter, if it stays full it looks nicer and I can take more photos of the beautiful ice and watch how it forms. And somehow I feel like the frogs are safer under a good solid layer of ice. One of my loyal fans posted a link to a video on youtube showing how frogs freeze in the comments to this blog, I am reposting it here in case you missed it. So now I know, I guess I don't have to risk any of my own frogs in ill-concieved scientific experiments fraught with risk and peril.

Where's Waldo?

There was one fish left in my pond, but a friend of mine who is better with the net stopped by and helped me get the last one out. I think. I'll have to keep checking in case there is another one in there which was hiding really well. He is the same friend who saw the fox, he described it to me so now I do believe that it was a fox, he says it wasn't very big and it was very cute and furry, in my experience the local coyotes are big and mangey looking, nobody would describe them as cute. So maybe it was eating fish, there don't seem to be less of them, but on the other hand not one of them has a single spot of black on its entire body and as we all know I used to have a black fish. I'll keep looking until it freezes.

New fish tank

Another bad photo of a fish tank. This is the new 20+ gallon tank I bought over the weekend for $10. Turns out fish tanks are really hard to photograph, especially if it is dark out which it mostly is when I am at home on week days. Too many reflections in the glass and the flash really doesn't work right, just bounces off of the tank and the water. No surprises there. I still kind of like this photo, it is symbolic of my life at this point, kind of unstable and off kilter. Actually this photo really makes it look like the fish tank is about to come smashing to the ground but I must assure my readers that it is not really that bad, it is more the effect of my bad photographic technique.