The Babies Are Leaving The Nest (sniff...)

No, not the Robins! Baby American Toads! The days of that singing and partying a while ago resulted in children - isn't that always the way? Didn't your Mom warn you this would happen? Of course, this is only one of thousands in my pond, i get a kick out of all of 'em; fully formed toads about the size of morning glory seeds!

What The Heck IS It?

i have quite a few plants that i never planted - through the magic of Nature, they just appear, and of course, i, being a "plant maniac", would never think to pull it out until i find out A) what it is or B) if i like it. Some i end up liking, but still have no idea what i have. Some i believe i may have planted or grown from a seed, and in the ensuing years forgot i had it (yes, i have THAT many plants!). Here is one that just popped up behind my variegated horseradish, it has pretty red stems and nice textured leaves, and since i am a nature artist and constantly look for new leaves to cast in cement, i certainly will keep it for now. But...what the heck IS it?

Impending Motherhood

i was just about to drastically cut down my variegated lilac bush, when i noticed an American Robin on her nest in the middle of said bush! This is very close to my workspace, and she would fly out, complaining loudly, every time i'd walk by. i finally started to remember she was there, and began to talk softly before i got close to her. We finally came to an understanding, and she does not worry about me so much anymore.

i can even take pics of her now, and she stays put! her mate is starting to hang around more the past few days - could that mean babies are arriving soon?

Koi Tales

Have to put in a word about Godzilla! When we first set up our larger watergarden, i decided i needed some Koi in there with the goldfish. Being a novice and knowing virtually nothing about Koi, i hit the petstores and was thrilled to find a 2" Koi for $1.25! Yes, he was a completely uninteresting pale gold color- probably the most basic junk color they come in, but i was happy! Named him Godzilla (well, they're Japanese, and that's the only Japanese word i knew!), stuck him in the pond, and he thrived!

**Let me interject right now that i have no idea what sex he was - if i had to guess, i would say female because of the body shape, but it didn't matter - and he "looked" like a male to me!**

Anyway, i had Godzilla for several years, he didn't grow very fast, although i have heard that Goldfish will only get as large as the area/container they're in will allow, but Koi continue to grow, regardless. He got to about 8 or 9 inches long, a dark gold color with black spots, and learned to eat out of my hand, which just thrilled me! I showed everyone how i could feed him, since no one around here ever heard of that, so i had a lot of fun with it. He also liked to climb the waterfall, like Salmon going upstream!

Then a bad winter hit, the pond froze over, and my de icer quit on me! Ran out and bought a new one, it was a lot smaller and only opened a tiny hole in the ice. Apparently that wasn't enough, because i lost most of my fish that winter, Godzilla included. I found his body in the spring, and he's buried on the shore of the pond. i actually cried over him - never thought i could get emotional over a fish! But i still miss him, even after 2-3 years, i have not had such good luck with Koi since, and have not tried to hand feed any others. i guess this is a good example of a fish that, in other circumstances, would be culled out or unwanted by Koi afficionados, but to me was a treasure!