Aquarium Additions : Shark and Platys

About a week ago, I was looking at the fish in Walmart (okay, I'm definitely hooked now!!), and saw a Shark Catfish (also referred to as Columbian Shark or White-Tipped Shark) which I had to have, especially for only $4. It really looks like a shark (and even swims like a shark), except for its big whiskers.

I have been trying to read up first, before making any purchases, but I knew I wouldn't be back to the store for some time, so I picked one up. When I got home, I read about how it can grow to 24" long (wow! I guess I'll be hoping he doesn't live that long), and therefore is not suitable for anything less than 100 gallon aquarium. Also, the young are okay with fresh water, but as they grow, they prefer brackish (somewhat salty) water, which the other fish may not tolerate.

I had been planning to buy some platy next, since they are live bearers, easy to care for, and the coral platy caught my eye in one store, with its red colour and black tail. But then I had picked up the 3 swordtails instead. The one female had suddenly gone skinny (I had wondered if she had given birth), and died not too long after. But then the male also showed signs of getting skinny (so couldn't be giving birth, in his case!), so I've isolated him in a small holding tank. But there he's stayed for almost 2 weeks now, not getting better, but not dying either, and occasionally showing interest in eating. But that only left one female swordtail in my 60 gallon aquarium, and room for some platys.

Today was a difficult day at work, and being a bit stuck at home all week since my son was sick and home from school, the kids and I went to the Mall for dinner and to pass the evening. I found the platys were on sale 3 for $7 (reg $4.88), so couldn't resist picking up a male and two females. It took me quite a while to spot a few females, since there were mostly males in the tank.

I ended up with a pair of what the sales clerk referred to as "Mickey Mouse platy". I didn't realize what he meant until I let them out into the aquarium tonight (see image left). What a lovely Mickey Mouse image on their tails! My sister, Rose, will appreciate this. She's a Disney and in particular, Mickey Mouse, fanatic.


The other female (image right) is a pretty mix of colours, sort of goldish silver, with a black swath along her side. Pretty neat.

My lone female swordtail, Comet, has pretty similar colouration and size and shape to the Mickey Mouse platys (see photo left). Except she has that lovely upturned snout, with the black marking (doesn't show in this image) which looks like a little moustache.

I love how the swordtail and the platys eat, just nibbling politely at the food (I've been feeding them all flakes, which I crush in my hand first). The goldfish, on the other hand, are aggressive, with their big extendible mouths, gulping very loudly at the surface of the water. In the morning, I can ever hear them gulping loudly at the water's surface before I get out of bed to feed them.

The shark catfish is an interesting fellow, since he doesn't spend his time on the bottom like a typical catfish. Instead, he swims up and down and around the tank. Even when he feeds, he will feed from the middle of the tank or even at the surface of the water. And also in a relaxed manner, not like those goldfish, which bump and push at each other as they fight over the food. I guess if I were to start an aquarium now, I would probably not start with the goldfish. But I have to admit, they have nice colours, and are entertaining to watch. They have taught my swordtail girl to also push her nose against the glass when I pass by (although not as violently as they do, opening & closing their mouths, as if to tell me they are STILL hungry).

Before I introduced the platys to the aquarium, I decided to finally pick up a nitrite test kit from the pet store, and tested my 60 gallon tank. The level was 0.1 (where 0.3 is still safe), so that is reassuring. It must be a good sign that I'm doing something right (I think all the live plants really help for water quality). I was beginning to feel bad with losing the two swordtails.

I still have the two neon tetras in another smaller aquarium, which I've set up in the kitchen in case one of the live bearers has babies, and I can actually get to them before the goldfish - which, I have a feeling, will be a quick race. I think that tank will work fine for that, if and when that time comes (which I hope will be soon).

Imperfect, But Saved by Grace

I've been tagged again. My first thought was "I don't know if I want to share another 6 Random Things About Me". But I was pleased to see that this was a different kind of "tag".

The "tag" comes from Anna in North Carolina, in her blog FlowerGardenGirl, and her random wisdom is Taste and Add Salt. Her challenge, which she has passed along to me, was to grab the nearest book, open it to page 56, sentence 5, and write out the sentence, along with two to five sentences following it.

It reminds me of the joke about the man who, seeking Divine guidance for his life, opened his Bible and randomly picked the passage "Then Judas went away and hanged himself" (Matt 27:5). Discouraged with this first pick, he opened randomly a second time to "Jesus told him, 'Go and do likewise'" (Luke 10:37). So applying random passages out of context may be a dangerous game, but there should be no harm in just blogging them, right?

Sitting at my computer in my home office, there is a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf on the wall full of mostly unused cookbooks, gardening books, health guides, business advice, puzzle books, and a very large selection of office supplies which I bought because they were on clearance, and do occasionally find uses for (just often enough to encourage me to buy more). So I knew I would instead reach for the book which I just purchased last week, and am reading through at this time.

My neighbour Helen teases me, since I really don't often read books. I spend a lot of time on the internet, researching ideas both for work, and for pleasure, but rarely sit and read a book. I enjoy reference books, and as a child used to often read selections out of our family Encyclopedia Brittanica set. But I can't really remember the last time I actually read a novel. But after waiting for Helen's book for probably two years, during which time she didn't feel ready to even give me an advance peek, I was pleased with myself to be the first one to buy a copy when it came "hot off the press". It helps to be a neighbour, so I saw the delivery truck arrive in her driveway with her copies, possibly even before she did. So I am making my way through it, reading on my lunch breaks (which are not as regular as they should be; I'm more inclined to just swallow my food quickly and return to work at my computer).

Anyhow, I digress... I reached for her book, "Hidden Masks Unveiled : Discover the face of Truth". Starting at page 56, sentence 5, Helen writes in the section entitled "Imperfect, But Saved by Grace":

During my healing retreat, I went shopping in the neighborhood where I was staying. Later, I wrote the following in my journal:

• I read a little write-up that was placed near Mexican glass pottery at a Mexican d'arte store. It was a quote from a Mexican poet that read something like: Better to be imperfect and graceful than to be perfect and graceless. Wow, another lesson learned. That's for me. Right, Lord? I cannot be perfect. I'm not perfect. Only you are perfect. But why am I aiming for such perfection? ... I am imperfect, but I am saved by grace. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Chirst Jesus" (Rom 3:23-24)."

Helen's book is intensely personal (so only now do I understand her hesitation to share it with me while it was still in progress), and reveals in a conversational way her own journey of recognizing the masks she wore, to hide from others and from her God and sometimes even from herself, what was really going on inside : pain, depression, and feelings of isolation. You can read more about her book at HosannaHouse.ca.

27Nov08 : It is now available from Amazon:

OR

I like Anna's idea, since it ties in with the theme of choosing a random passage, of randomly selecting the 5 people to which I will pass along this challenge. This also gives me some motivation to get out there and visit some blogs, which I always thoroughly enjoy, but like my reading and taking breaks, don't do nearly enough of.

So, now it's my turn. That beautiful set of books above (which I received from Anna, and I'm sure she won't mind if I pass them on) is "for you to keep should you decide to participate. They are hard bound with gold embossed lettering."

Here’s how it goes:

1) Open the closest book to you, not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment, to page 56.

2) Write out the 5th sentence, as well as two to five sentences following that…

3) Pass this on to 5 blogging friends.

My picks were randomly selected by clicking "Next Blog" from mine (which seems to randomly pick from Blogger.com). Filtering out ones in foreign language, or too political, here are the first 5 which caught my attention.

To those I have "tagged", I hope some of you will take up this challenge, and play along. Please be sure to leave a comment here when you do, so we can follow along.

1. Yili and Sickboy's High Point Adventures - This blog follow the adventures of Mark & Yili, across each U.S. state, with narrative and photos of their climbing the "high points" of each state - some 40 so far! What an adventure! What an inspiration (for reading more of their blog, anyhow :-) )!

2. The Halfknits - This blog is written by a "group of volunteers in Texas dedicated to helping others by making [knitted] cold weather items". I'll be curious to find out more about them, and where they send these cold weather items. I learned, from their blog, a new knitting acronym : UFOs = unfinished objects (i.e. source of more yarn for knitting).

3. ashton w. rodgers photography - I have a strong feeling Ashton will not want to clutter his cool visually appealling blog with chatty stuffy like this random book challenge, but I invite you to visit his blog anyhow, it is delightful, with a mix of some serious and lots of whimsy, like this wagon stunt, which cleverly places the shadow off screen, so it is not obvious if it's a photoshop job or the real thing. Check out these delicious fruit photos, they look better than real life.

4. shellie - I have to warn you, if you're like me (um, a bit more conservative or traditional in your images), you'll get a bit dizzy looking at these photos, but if you have a chance to wander through, it is an interesting unfiltered smattering of images and thoughts from Shellie and her group of friends. After 14 posts, she suddenly stopped blogging, so perhaps switched to another blogging service? Shellie, I had fun wandering through your blog. If you're still "out there" somewhere, let us know. Thanks.

5. Pre-Animation/Illustration - This blog is a series of pre-animation / illustration sketches by Dave "Steve" Rodriguez in Algonquin College in Canada. This young man has talent. I hope you enjoy his blog, as I did.

Wet Coast Blues and Blessings

Living on the Westcoast (aka Wet Coast) of BC has its challenges and blessings. It is now November, so well into our rainy season, which sometimes seems to go from October to June, without much breaks. It is at times like this, I still occasionally muse about whether I should have migrated south, to California.

My 7-year-old son played soccer this morning, in what started as a light rain, and ended in a pretty heavy downpour. But despite the rain, the boys seemed to thoroughly enjoy the exercise, and the competition. I was advised at the start of soccer season, by a fellow worker and "soccer dad", to seek out some "Under Armour" gear for my son, which I bought just in time for their first rainy game back in October. It is one of these new-fangled synthetic materials which is moisture-wicking, and stays warm even when wet. I was warned that it was not cheap, like $40 for a shirt. Well, when I find it in one of the local sports stores, it was $60 for a long-sleeved shirt. But fortunately, they didn't have any kids sizes, so I bought him a Mens size Small, which is surprisingly snug-fitting, so even the extra length in the body and sleeves is fine. Hopefully it will fit him for a number of years. He has not complained or shown any sign of being cold ever since. If you look for it, note that Under Armour comes in two types, the "Cold Gear" (which keeps one warm in winter) and "Heat Gear" (which keeps one cool in summer). They are quite a different weight, although probably the same material composition. Amazing stuff, and worth investing in, if you are a "soccer mom" or "soccer dad". (Shop Under Armour online: in Canada here; in the US, here).

Anyhow, the weather here may be dreary, with long stretches of rain, but on the other hand, it is certainly mild. Which means that if I climbed to the back of the yard today, since it has stopped rainy, I would surely find a few more ripe gold raspberries (although some of them will also be mouldy). See my post about the gold raspberries in September.

Another blessing is flowers blooming late into the Fall. The fall asters have finally lost their colour, and I hope to trim them down for the winter soon, but today I was cheered by this bright yellow clump of chrysanthemums.

I brought a little cheer into the home, trying out my hand at a small arrangement into the beautiful handmade glass Ikebana vase by David New-Small which my husband bought for me recently on our trip to enchanting Granville Island.

Later today I hope to go back into the garden and do some more cleanup in preparation for winter. It is times like this that I am able to count our blessings for this wonderful, wet but mild climate we enjoy on the Westcoast of BC.

Fairy Hide-and-Seek Image

I believe this is my best 3D image yet. I call it "Fairy Hide-and-Seek". It took a couple of hours to figure out the depth of field to match the focus of my mushroom photo, but I think the effort paid off. What do you think? (click the image for a larger view)

Aquarium Challenges : Trouble in the Tank

I guess it's been about 2 months now since I started the aquarium, and we've had a few challenges recently... After the third neon tetra was eaten by the goldfish, I have removed the other 2 to a separate tank, set up in the kitchen. This was also my emergency aquarium in case the second swordtail (my daughter has named her Comet because of her black tail) had babies, which we believe the orange one (Crystal) did. But still waiting for that event, if it will come at all.

Although Crystal acted fairly normal, she stayed skinny. I began to suspect something was wrong. Then a couple of days ago, she seemed to lose interest in eating, was at times along the bottom of the aquarium, or right in the thick of the plants, which is where she died.

The male swordtail has worried me today, he is hiding behind one of the plants, which is not his usual behaviour. So I'll keep an eye on that.

The goldfish seem always to be hungry. The little faces pressed against the glass as I pass by, began to be a bit disturbing rather than charming. My husband reported that the fish in the dentist's office seemed almost disinterested when they were fed. In contrast, some of mine (the 3 white & orange "feeder" goldfish) would break into fights, bumping & chasing each other. So I increased the size of the feedings and increased from 1 or 2 times to 3 times per day. But after a few days, the water turned cloudy (since a greenish colour, apparently an algae outbreak). So I cut back on the feedings again, and kept the light off (I had been leaving it on during the day, mainly for the benefit of my aquarium plants), and cleaned the filter more often, and within a few more days, it cleared up. But I've kept them on the reduced feedings (usually only in the morning) ever since.

On a brighter note, the aquarium plants seem to be doing fairly well, and one of them is showing visible new growth. The pleco has stopped hiding under the filter (ever since the time I had to push him off, in order to clean it), choosing to instead hide under the plants where he is invisible. Occasionally he comes out during a feeding, which is a real treat to watch.

PS. The photo is not mine, it is a Microsoft clip art, but seemed relevant to the topic. ;-)

Aquarium Non-Event : Missed Swordtail Births

Over the last couple of days, I've come to the conclusion that my daughter's swordtail probably gave birth, and we missed it, and the babies were enjoyed by our hungry goldfish.

On Friday evening, I noticed that she was acting a bit strange, following behind and below the goldfish, near the bottom. Like she was cowering or trying to hide behind them. I was also concerned that when she tried to eat the food flakes, they seemed to come back out of her mouth, as if she couldn't swallow them.

On Saturday morning, she was very skinny, as if half her stomach was missing, and seemed to be again hiding from the other fish, and not even making much attempts to eat. I was concerned enough to move her into a small tank, and drop in some food for her, in case she was not able to compete with the others for enough food. But my reading on the 'net indicated that these signs may point to a female who has given birth.

Sure enough, by the evening, she was acting fairly normally, so I introduced her back into the aquarium again. Since then, I've noticed that when the other swordtails swallow the flakes, some portion often comes back out again, so this seems normal. A few days later, our orange female swordtail is still quite skinny, but otherwise seems fine:

Now I'm looking for signs from the other female swordtail. I read that before giving birth, there is often a dark spot in the anal area, and even some chance of seeing the eyes of the babies inside. Or perhaps I'll note some change in behaviour, and attempts to hide from the other fish.

I am thinking to get a second smaller tank set up, for the offspring, if I am able to retrieve any before they are devoured. (Wow, not much chance of that, since the goldfish are always hungry, and very quick!) That, or a birthing apparatus. We'll see.

A few more photos... My mom gave me two cool lava rocks which she found. I boiled and set them in the tank, and they not only look good, but they hold down the plants (which get otherwise dislodged from the gravel too easily:

I was also excited to get a photo of my pleco in "action" tonight, feeding along the bottom. He looks even more cool, when he has his fins stretched out like this:

I got a photo of his underside a couple of days ago, this guy looks quite amazing from every angle:

Aquarium Casualties : Tetra Treats & Swordtails

Our aquarium has experienced its first casualties. On Wednesday morning, my son noticed one of our goldfish with a small red tail sticking out of its mouth. He counted the neon tetras, and found only 3 of the 5. Then he spotted another one floating on the surface, with its head bitten off. In an interesting reversal of fortune, one of our goldfish, which was being sold as a "feeder" fish, found himself on the top rather than bottom of the foodchain.

The previous night, my husband had asked if I was feeding the fish enough, as he didn't think I was giving them enough flakes. I replied that I'd heard that one could never really underfeed fish, but can overfeed them. But maybe I had been keeping them too hungry. Just in case, I've increased the number (now 2 or 3 per day) and sizes of the feedings.

By Wednesday night, I found myself in a pet store looking at the platy's. They didn't have the coral ones (bright red with black tails), and the red ones and white ones they had were not particularly interesting looking. But then I noticed the swordtails, which are also live-bearers, were on sale 3 for $8. So we bought a male and two females. Here is the male, he's a pretty attractive fellow. My son has claimed him as one of his fish:

My daughter claimed the all-orange female as her own:

I claimed this orange female with black tail, since she matches the colours of the male, and I like the dark spot (almost looks like a moustache) on her snout:

The plecostomus, who usually spends most of his time hanging onto the bottom of the filter, finally came down this evening (for a brief moment, then returned to the filter), but I managed a photo of him. This is a pretty cool-looking fish, wouldn't you agree?:

Hopefully with the increased feedings, the goldfish will not take interest in the other 3 neon tetras. And the swordtails are large enough to not be considered a snack. In fact, I already noticed the male taking a few nips at one of the goldfish, so I'll need to watch out if that continues.

Aquarium Addition : Pleco

Yesterday we added two more plants to the aquarium, as well as a Pleco which my son picked out, and has named him Spotty. The sign on the tank said Bronze Catfish, but when we went to purchase him, we found out is was a Pleco, which is also a type of catfish. Looked too cool for the $3.88 price, and sure enough he was quite a bit more, but they cut me a deal for $6. Apparently an algae eater, it likes to hide, and hang from the side of the aquarium. It may be a while before I can get any good photos of him, but here's an initial attempt, with him reflected against the glass:

Here's the tank today, with the new plants (the reddish one in front and the large green bunch behind it):

The next addition I'm considering, if all goes well, are some platys, which are live bearers. We saw some coral platys the other night, which were a brilliant red colour, with a touch of black on the tail. We keep seeing glass catfish, which are ultra-cool looking fish, but I read that they are a bit more difficult to keep, and want to be in a small school of 5 or more. So I don't think we're at this level. I don't even have a heated tank, nor do I perform any monitoring of water quality.
I finally got a half-decent shot of the 5 neon tetras:

And a grainy closeup:

Here are a few shots of the goldfish again, first of Bubbles (isn't her form beautiful, even if her colours are not so attractive?):

And finally, the little unnamed black/orange one:

Aquarium Experiment: Early Beginnings

I still think of it as an experiment, since it started quite casually and rather unexpectedly, to me at least. When we released our turtle in August (see post), I ended up with a tank and pump, and a whim to pick up some 99 cent pond goldfish at the nearby garden centre. Less than 2 months later, I have collected 12 fish, 2 snail, 4 varieties of plants, visiting pet stores (I can always talk the kids into that), and boiling a large pot of driftwood on the stove. I think I'm just a little hooked.

If you're like I was less than 6 months ago, you'll want to click away, since I was not in the least bit interested in captive fish or aquariums. Fish tanks were something that you expected in the dentist's office, and that's about it.

[Fish always seemed so oblivious, so remote... I had never even imagined that within days the fish would be poking their little faces against the glass when they see me pass by, hoping that I will stop to feed them.]

Anyhow, at the start we already had the tank and pump, in which I had left a little of the "turtle water", so the pump would be already primed with some beneficial bacteria. I bought a bag of epoxy-coated gravel from WalMart, and added tap water which had been allowed to sit for a few days, to allow the chlorine to evaporate. In mid-September, the kids and I went to pick out our 99 cent goldfish, but found that they were all sold out, so ended up picking 2 fancy fantail $2.99 goldfish. I added some floating plants from a local ditch, which the fish promptly devoured. Here was the tank then:

...with the two fantail goldfish. The silver one is "Bubbles", picked by my daughter. The orange one is "Autumn", picked by my son:

Here is the tank today (I apologize for the poor quality photos, but click any for a larger view):

We have a total of 12 fish today, despite the common advice to "cycle" the tank for 4 to 6 weeks before adding more fish. I guess the 60+ gallon tank, and live plants, helps a lot. Especially since I haven't done any special testing or conditioning or anything of the water. I use only tap water, set out for a few days, and I've been replacing only a small portion once or twice a week.

After the 2 fantail goldfish, I stumbled across 39 cent goldfish in a pet store. They looked pretty much like the other $2.99+ fish, but they were referred to as "feeder" fish (i.e. bought to feed to other fish!). I was told half of them may not survive past one week, so instead of buying 3, I bought 5, and we resisted naming them, just in case. But a couple of weeks later, we probably should put some names to them, now.

One of my favourites is this dark black / orange one:

There's also this one, white with reddish back:

One with three bars of orange on a white body:

One almost completely white on one side:

...with just a spot and fin marking of orange on the other side:

And finally this one which appeared black when I picked him, but looks a lot more silver / chocolate:

Here's the 7 goldfish together:

Then there's two algae-eating Bumblebee snails, which I had bought for my son while we had the turtle (although we kept them in a smaller container, they would have disappeared in the turtle's murky water). The smaller one is "Stripe":

The larger one is "Buzz":

Today we added to the mix 5 neon tetras (since they were on a 5 for $5 sale). I don't know if the goldfish will eat them. There seemed to be a few times today they chased them, but the tetras are pretty quick. So we'll see.

I've bought 4 different clumps of plants, and added a rock (possibly petrified wood) I found a while back on the beach, but boiled before adding it. I am really keen on buying some more plants. I am told I need better lighting for many of the plants. We'll see. It's just an experiment at this point, I tell myself. ;-)

ASIDE: The practical side of me does a quick reality check, on how much I am spending, in the $5-at-a-time increments. So far, here's how it adds up:

$40 Tank (which would have been over $200 new)
$40 Filter
$15 gravel
$5 net
--------
$100 tank set up

$6 Fancy goldfish x 2
$2 Feeder goldfish x 5
$5 Neon tetras x 5
$18 4 clumps of plants (many turned out to be multiple plants)
$6 Bumblebee snails x 2
---------
$37

So still under $150 for the experiment to date. Which is still under the price of the tank, if we had bought a new one. So I think I can still call it "casual". ;-)

Puppy Flower Arrangement Fun

My sister, Rose, emailed me these wonderful photos of very creative flower arrangements in the shape of puppies. So delightful! I searched, and found lots of references to these flower arrangements on the internet, but no mention of the artist's name. I would like to give her due credit. It wasn't obvious which, if any, was the original posting, to provide a link back. So here goes, with just the photos (click any image for a larger view):




I was so inspired by these arrangements that on Sunday afternoon, when the sun broke through, I went out in the garden looking for flowers to try my hand at my own arranging. My dahlias would be perfect for creating the shagginess of the puppies. Here was my first attempt, with the center of a purple coneflower as the nose, and late-season (small) spikes of butterfly bush for pointy ears, the stems wrapped in wire to keep them together:

Hmmm, the eyes would be better if a bit more noticeable, such as with these black-eyed susans:

Hmmm, I like the butterfly bush ears, and how about a mature dahlia flower for the mouth? Yep, that's a "keeper":

Now my son was inspired also, he joined in with his own arrangement:

Here is a closeup, showing the perennial sunflower eyes, green nose from a bud, and messy hair from geranium leaves (the green variant of Victor Reiter which pops up like a weed everywhere in my garden):

So far so good, my turn again. This time, I left some petals on the coneflower, as whiskers, and tried a blue hydrangea as a head, and the butterfly bush ears. I don't know what it is, but it's cute, too. My son claimed this one for himself.

Hmmm, what about the bright shaggy yellow of perennial sunflower, and the yellow black-eyed susan for eyes? That's a good combination, too:

So by the end of our fun, we had three little flower "pet" arrangements, to keep:

Garden Surprises to Cheer Me

It is my faith in God and my sweet kids who give me hope and perspective in times of despair, but it is my garden which really helps to cheer me, with its unexpected surprises.

Lately I have not had much time to spend in the garden, being quite overwhelmed by my work, overwhelmed by my husband being so overwhelmed by his work that he is seldom around and when he is, not available for conversation, and starting to be busy with kid's schedules starting up also. But whenever I have a chance to spend even 10 minutes walking to the compost and back (yes, it really does take that long, since the path is never a direct one), I always come back feeling refreshed (albeit longing for more).

On the weekend, I tackled a small weeding project, trimming and pulling some lemon balm which has taken over too much of an area behind my italian plum tree. The tree finally showed blossoms this year for the first time, but I had been disappointed not to see any fruit follow. But while down on my knees in the dirt, I looked up, and saw 5 beautiful blue/purple fruits hanging in the tree. They were just hiding under the leaves, that's all. My 7 year old son, on hearing the news, climbed in there with me, and spotted a 6th fruit. The two I took inside to sample (one because I had accidentally knocked it down, and the second I had picked) were a bit too tangy to the tastebuds, but very sweet to my imagination.

Today, while visiting the compost, I passed by the raspberry patch, and my golden raspberries (I have the name of them somewhere) were showing a great second crop of fruit. They have done this consistently in the past, but each time it is a sweet surprise, to get raspberries in mid-Sept and beyond. So I picked this small basket for the family to sample:


The blackberries which are sending long thorny branches over the fence in a continual assault, also sent across two bunches of ripe black fruit, which I enjoyed on the spot.

I also picked one more of our asian pears on the way inside, to share with the kids after school. The top row of our asian pear espalier has borne us 3 ripe pears, now. The second row is heavy with fruit, but that variety is not quite ripe (I've already sampled). The bottom row shows no fruit this year (and I can't remember if we had any last year, either - I'll need to look back in my blog!).

The espalier apple is full of beautiful red fruit on the top row (I think it's a Liberty), but not quite ripe yet. Would make some nice photos, when I get a chance. The middle didn't bear, and the bottom was stripped clean by the squirrels this year!

Fairy Discovery at Whytecliffe Park

The other day, we were exploring the scenic seaside Whytecliffe Park in West Vancouver with some friends, and I noticed it was unusually quiet. I wandered back along the trail, and was surprised to see my daughter and her friend Justine chatting with fairies. I was able to take this photo before they noticed me and flew off (click the image for a larger view):