Where has 2009 gone?

I just can't believe we are one week away from Christmas 2009 already. I've said it before - the older we get, the faster the time clicks away. I hate that.

But I do love the Christmas spirit and season. I actually decorated again this year! Yea for me! Zippy loves to lay underneath the tree...maybe it's the warm lights keeping him warm. Like he needs help with that will that fur his has!

As you know, I had a Great Blue Heron steal two of my koi this summer. Thanks to a very dear friend of mine, I had one of my "fish" replaced today. Albeit - it was a beautiful glass blown goldfish - but nevertheless. It is beautiful and I thank Thing 3 for that.

Hope everyone has their shopping done (not me) and their gifts wrapped (not me) and you are ready to just slow down a bit and enjoy family, friends and good cheer.

Ok Ok...I'll try to do better

I've gotten so wrapped up in Facebook over the past couple of months that I almost forgot how to blog!

The past couple of months have been eventful...Dad and Barb came to visit. The photos in the gadget to the right are pics he took at the Sandcastle Classic at the Neptune Festival this year. Great time - good weather - entirely too many people.

Oh, and this little thing called my 50th Birthday kinda of got in the way.

We took a trip while Dad was here to Hobbsville, North Carolina. I know - you wish you could have come along. Maybe next time. My older sibling moved to Hobbsville in the early fall with his wife and the 2 dogs. Lot of open fields and cotton down there.

Life at work has been trying with preparation of a two year budget that doesn't start until next July...and having to implement major cuts. The city is looking at a huge deficit this year and I think everyone will feel the pain somehow. And I'm busy with trying to implement a new inventory automation project. Very time consuming. But we'll get through.

The pond has survived. The final four are happy the net is finally over them. Not for protection to them, but to keep the leaves out for me! We got the net on just before that November Nor'easter hit...what a trip that was! It was right up there with TS Bonnie (1997) as far as winds and fear factor. I have since then gone out and bought golashes. Best $20 I've spent all year. I'm ready for the next one!

Zippy is fine and as entertaining as always. Some things just don't change. Like missing my little girl Schatze. We think of her often.

Tomorrow is a few errands then into the kitchen I go to prep for Thursday. The annual day of eating entirely too much food and wondering why we all feel so tired and sleepy. Like I said, some things never change.

And then there were....STILL FOUR!

The remaining fish survived the heron today or else it didn't show up. Either way, they are still scared to death and won't come up to eat. The raccoon didn't show today either. Maybe I instilled the fear of God into him (yeh - right!)...he probably just found a better food source.

The fight is still on - even if the heron doesn't come back for a while, I have to train my fish to come up and eat....or they'll be gonners anyway.

Time will tell.

And then there were five....

Darn those birds!

A blue heron has discovered my pond! Hubby told me he heard a big crash yesterday after he got home and got to the back deck just in time to see the heron clear the pond. After checking tonight, the bird is eating well. He got one of my "new" (from last year) black and white koi. Now I have to figure out how to deter that rascal. The cat is of no help in this area.

Congratulations Ryan and Heather

My niece is getting married in just a few hours and I want to wish them much love and happiness for a long, long time. Happy Wedding!

I have just discovered Facebook....what a blast that has been. I'm finding "friends" from way back into high school days that I haven't talked to in years and years and years. It's fun catching up with everyone to see how we've all aged (sorry, but we have!), how we've grown and where our lives have taken us.

The fish continue to thrive...but they are still very skittish when it comes to anyone (or anything such as the cat - his new and personal water bowl!) getting near the pond. They run for cover when I go out to feed them. And they've been acting up lately (if you know what I mean) so I'm sure the baby fishes will arrive in due time. I still need a few plants and maybe a few snails then it will be complete for the season except for routine maintenance. I got lucky this year with the pollen. Last year, there was so much pollen in the pond that I couldn't even see the bottom. This year, I started treating the pond before pollen season with a bacteria (the good kind!) and it's pretty much stayed clear. Note to self - do that again next year!

Almost forgot - we had a peacock - yes peacock - in the neighborhood on Thursday. He was on our garage for a while then decided to move to my neighbor's roof (in the picture). He hung around all afternoon and into the night when he decided to get up into a tree (via their chimney) and roost for the night. We haven't seen him since so hopefully he's found his way back to Hunt Club where we think he came from.

Well, I had better go get dressed for the nuptials.

I'm still here

I haven't disappeared....I'm still here and still plugging away at that thing called life. Excuses? How many do you want? I won't bore you with details but I find it harder and harder to find the time to get on my blog....why is that? Is it because I'm learning (finally - you old goat) to use other tools such as Twitter and Facebook? Is it because I'm just too damned tired when I get home to want to write? Is it because I feel I stretch myself too thin? Who knows.

I will make an effort to keep this blog current (whatever that means) and somewhat entertaining. After all, the fish are thriving and in the process of reproducing (anyone want baby fish later?), the weather is getting nicer (meaning mosquitos aren't out in force yet) and my niece is getting married in two days. So, what's to complain about?

I have to share something with you. I came home today and my husband told me that after he got home earlier, a group of neighbors had gathered in our driveway and were staring at our roof. Ok, now I'm curious....lo and behold, there's a peacock on the roof! Yes, a real peacock with feathers and all! How beautiful this bird was! By the time I got home, it had moved from our roof to the neighbor's and just parked himself and looked (somewhat) comfortable. He moved from their roof over their garage to their backyard. He poked around a while then decided to move back to the roof. After a while, he moved along their roof line to their chimney and decided to jump into the trees to roost for the night. I'll be interested to see if he's around in the morning...of course, we'll probably hear him anyway. I hope he finds his way home...he looked a tad lost and the area Robins and Cardinals were giving him a fit! More to come...stay tuned.

Thanks for listening. Or at least putting up with my too few posts lately.

New Beginnings

Spring is in the air! You can almost smell the flowers blooming and the fresh cut grass. The warmer days remind me that I'm way behind in getting ready for Spring. All that prep work in the yard, cleaning out beds, getting fresh mulch, pruning and planning. I still haven't decided what to do in the front yard since we leveled it last year - so for now, good ol' green turf will do just fine. But I'd love a shade tree of some sort because our house faces west and the front of it just cooks in the summer afternoon sun.

The pond is doing well. However, I await pollen season with mixed emotions. Love that everything is coming back to life but hate the green coating on everything - and it always wreaks havoc with my pond. Last year it turned so dark and black that I couldn't see fish or anything. I have started the maintenance treatment a little early this year in hopes that we don't have the same problem. Fishes are doing fine - growing nicely. The two larger koi have about doubled in size since last July when I introduced them to the water. The comets and shubunkins are doing nicely too. I can't wait for the spring pond plants to come in at Animal Jungle....the pond looks so bare right now.

Zippy is finally adjusting to being the only one in the house (at least of the four-legged variety). He's not quite as clingy as he was the first two weeks and seems to be settling down a bit. We are too for that matter.

POND ering Spring

OK - we got a real big tease today from Mother Nature. After we had howling winds and snow flurries last week, we got a dose of 75+ degrees today. Enough to open the windows, air the house out and get in the yard and pull some weeds. Ok, not my "ideal" day off, but at least I was outside! Tomorrow is supposed to be just as wonderful if not a tad warmer...I think the gang is meeting at the beach in the morning for a couple of rounds of Bocce Ball....I hope I remember how to play!

Schatze continues to amaze us and is hanging in there but we can tell she's not a happy camper anymore. She just looks uncomfortable all of the time. Our days together are numbered I am afraid. Zippy is well, just Zippy...some things never change. The groomer came last Thursday and he was not a happy camper at the time. But he quickly gets over it.

The new fish I put in the pond last summer have about tripled in size. Water temp is just at 50 but they aren't quite ready to eat yet. They're waiting on plants for places to hide. They feel very exposed right now. Songbirds galore today - you name it, we had it. Wrens, Chickadees, Cardinals, Robins, Sparrows, Titmice, Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Blue Jays and of course, our resident Grackles.

Ahhh...the joys of spring (well, almost spring).

TGIT

Thursday - which means tomorrow is Friday! Hurrah! Made it through another work week.

Boy oh boy the dog days of summer. We've had thunderstorms the past couple of afternoons which really just turns the entire area into a sauna. Can't we just have October weather year round? That would suit me just fine. It's our favorite time of the year. Something about having to put that first sweater on for the season and the smell of the crisp air.

Zippy gets his routine grooming tomorrow evening - trim, nails, and bath. I guess I should start having his teeth cleaned but I just can't put the lady through that. Sounds like something you'd come out of with a lot of new scratch/bite marks. At least my little angel doesn't weigh 44 pounds like that porker cat on the news tonight. I think they said someone just let him go and someone else picked him up as a stray. 44 pounds? Geesh - what are they feeding that poor thing?

Schatze is still hanging in there. Her hearing is almost non-existent as is her eyesight. But she still prances around the yard every now and then. But she has gotten to where she doesn't want to go in and out of the house via the garage. Only the front door. I think the steps are steeper in the garage and my truck is usually in the way too. The front steps are wider and she has a good landing at the top to get her footing. Whatever it takes to keep her happy in what I feel are her final, golden days.

The pond is doing well. Last weekend I dug up some old hostas that were beyond repair (they've been in the bed for 10 years or so and have repeatedly been divided, etc.) and on a whim, I grabbed a handful, hosed off the root ball and stuck it in a pot with some kitty litter and rocks and plunked it in the shallow end of the pond. Don't you know that thing is doing just fine? I was rather surprised as I didn't know if it would survive in the water or not. Makes me think I should have done that a long time ago. Maybe next spring I'll put some new, fresh ones in and see how they do. Fish are fine and growing. They're getting more used to me when I go to the edge to feed them. They're finally learning that I'm their food chain! They are just too quick right now to try and get pictures...maybe over the winter when they hibernate.

Friday Eve - I think we should celebrate.

Any excuse will do...

It's been a while since my last post. Been busy, been sick. I could just leave it at that.

Actually, I really don't know where the past few weeks have gone. "Zoom Zoom" as the commercial would say. We all seem to be "busy" all of the time - but what do I really have to show for it? I still have walls to be painted, a front yard to re-plant, a deck that needs to be stained, chairs that need to be recovered....but I'm too busy! I'll figure it out one of these days.

The sick part has been no fun. I'm not the type to lay around all Sunday with the newspaper and old movies, but this Sundas was an exception. I have caught someones summer cold and it knocked me out for two days. Went back to work today but was dragging my feet all day. And now I'm tired and ready to go back to bed. And it's not even dark out. Either I'm really sick or really getting old!

Pond, plants and fish are all well. The shy koi are actually starting to come up to eat with the comets when I give them food - glad to see them coming around. The plants are well - I guess. They aren't multiplying like I'd hoped like they have in years past but they aren't dying either. I must still have some kind of chemical imbalance for the plants not to go wild in this heat. I'll keep plugging along and hopefully things will get better.

OK - off to put my jammies on and get my pillow all fluffed up - will try to write more often.

Quick Post

What a wonderful holiday weekend it was....for once, I did nothing except absolutely relax. I did no housework, no chores, no laundry, nada - zilch - zero! And it felt good. I spent all 3 mornings at the beach with my bocce ball group at Sandbridge. The wind was a challenge for 2 days but other than that, very nice weather and an overall great weekend. We did put up flags around our "post" at the beach in honor of those who have served and sacrificed.

This weekend I will spend Saturday with Mom. We're going to MacArthur Center for lunch and a little retail therapy. With her being on oxygen, I don't know how long she'll last, but at least we'll give it the ol' college try.

New fish are fine - no floaters. But they aren't coming up to eat - they haven't quite caught on to the routine yet. When they get hungry enough, they'll surface. I can see them in the bottom. And my lily is sprouting - signs of improvement and progress. As soon as there is something to really photograph, I'll post a pic or two.

Well, I said I'd keep it short. Gonna call it a night and I'll try to post over the weekend.

Ciao.