Ari’s new turtle hasn’t been seen for a couple days; It seems the trip from his tank at the mall with his buddies to here was a bit traumatic. While he might not be terribly intelligent, he is an excellent hider. So good, in fact, that I spent a while this morning pulling plants out from around the pond to see if he’d somehow hopped out. I also took the time to clear out old rotten leaves from Elephant (the tall plant at the very back). Which is when I found this:

That can only be one thing right? Wanna closer view? Me either, but here you go:

Oh, so gross, eh? And I remember a certain SMELL when we first moved here and it all makes sense now. But I wonder how in the hell this could be missed? When we first moved in, there were three fish in the pond, the two white ones and the big ol’ Pleco at the bottom. Then one fish died and Shannon disposed of her (right? RIGHT???) appropriately. Or so I was told…It’s sort of sad, really, that this big beautiful fish made a break for it and died alone and unnoticed. When I get my self together a bit more today, I will tidy it up and maybe enlist Ari to help with a little eulogy for the Unknown Fish.

As always, when I see roadkill, my first reaction is to say “Oh, that’s not a smart place for a nap!” And, as always with roadkill, my other reaction is to shriek and jump to the side. I had my wits about me (and my camera with me) so I took a couple snaps of this poor little fella. He was teeny tiny (about the length of my hand from nose to bum)  and so cute, if I’d had the nerve, I would have scooped him up and brought him home, popped him in the freezer and (well, you never know) shipped him off to my favourite taxidermist. Is it weird to have a favourite taxidermist? I’ve been following Amy for years, she’s amazing.

Sad, really. I never see red squirrels in Toronto, mostly black ones, grey ones and the occasional albino squirrel.  It’s also sad to think that his fate will be a garbage bin.

If I believed in reincarnation, I’d like to come back as a squirrel. Did I ever tell you about the black one we had in Windsor that came around regularly, he had a white tip on his tail, we called him Pauly Walnuts. He’d hide scavenged pizza crusts on our porch. Man, I loved that Pauly.

This summer we’ve been on the go constantly, it seems. We stayed at yet another hotel for 2 nights and I think I may be maxed out on my love of all things hotel. Honestly, I sleep better in my own bed with just Shannon. At least then I can poke him and he rolls over without a fuss.

Our next door neighbour’s cat has had 5 kitties, she gave birth on Sunday night and really, is there anything cuter than a bunch of kittens? If I could, I’d take the dark grey tabby. But I can’t so I won’t. If anyone is interested, I’m pretty sure they’ll all be looking for homes in a month or so.

Doesn’t she look proud?

Also, in fish news, I caught out pleco eating from the surface of the water the other day, it was amazing. Her entire nose was sticking out of the water by about a centimeter, and she was basically juggling the balls of food, swirling them around, sucking them in, spitting them out, it was a long process. Eventually she managed to swallow 6 pellets and calmly swam back to her hidey hole. She must not have seen me standing there watching her!

Have I mentioned how much I love those fish lately? I still do!

And it’s band practice tonight-joy. And stormy, double joy.

She was out in the newly charcoal-replaced-in-the-filter super clear water so I snuck over and took a picture:

She’s the black one in the middle, you can barely see her. But I think anyone with a speck of fish knowlege will appreciate her enormitude. Gigantic pleco, indeed!

More pics after the JUMP! More→