my paradise fish

I'd had concerns about him lately. He'd been off color (see end of this post), and then was suddenly darting away, hiding after taking a few bites of food. He refused flake and NLS pellets for a few days, then I offered him one of his favorites- frozen brine shrimp. A bite, and then he hid under the ceramic arch (a spot I never saw him go into before). Spent days either there or under the filter sponge, and often darted off to hide when I approached the tank or lifted the lid. I started to wonder was he ill? was the frozen food spoiled? did someone (a kid visited the house recently) rap on the glass with a finger and traumatize him? But then his color came back-

with such dashing around upon the sight of me that I could barely get him in focus again!

Mr. Fire-Tail (though not so glorious as then)

I started to think maybe it was the cold, with winter here and his tank unheated (but I keep the room temp just above his limit). However, returning from a weekend away when it was colder than ever, found him in good form- greeting me at the glass

and getting in the way when I wanted to get photos of how my crypt balansae are doing- I thought they might melt away from the shock of transfering in here and being in a coldwater tank. They're doing fine! Standing up straighter, and showing a few new leaves

Tucker's fin extensions are getting longer- I've been trying to keep up on water changes ever week even though one fish doesn't put much waste in the water, and make sure to use the gravel vac too (I finally bought a new one that fits the tank properly and it made such a difference) perhaps that has been what he needed- just his own space, and better care.

He gets a little spoiled now, being the only fish. Gets any carpet beetle I catch, or housefly, or mosquito. When we left for the holiday, I gave him two live worms as a treat. He gets really excited over that. I finally got a decent photo from the short end of the tank- in showing his colors, that is- the angle and composition are poor, but you can see the bright blue on edge of fins. So I think he's feeling good.

Bothers me that I still don't know what was off, though. The water quality? temperature? food? was he a bit ill or just had a mood swing. Who knows. 

last acorns

I finally cracked the last gathered white oak acorns a few days ago.

They were all bad. Had been in a single layer in a basket that I agitated quite often, I didn't see any visible mold on the outsides, but once opened, those not insect infested or rotted to a powder, had this discoloration- starting to spoil.

Threw them all out. 

I'm still gathering a whole lot of pin oak acorns out of the yard, every few days, to dispose of on walks in the woods . . . where I think the animals have been eating them, because the last spot I dumped acorns, I found a pile of deer droppings this time. 

Well at least they were discovered by the wildlife, outside of my yard.

Fred

There's only one plant in our household that has a name- the huge schefflera in the dining room window, that my husband had for years before we married. It's Fred (and we hang Christmas ornaments on him in Dec). After the chop, lots of leaves are turning yellow and falling off. I kind of expected that. Dismayed maybe I've harmed the plant, more than just a setback. But no fear- new tender young leaves are growing!

I cut down

all the dead cardinal climber vines off the deck- after the first freeze they go from attractive with a bit of color change, to limp and slimy all at once. Couldn't help collecting the fallen seed off the deck, even though I don't really need to save any- there's still plenty in the original packet.

just before

the freeze, I took these pictures. My older sister sent me a packet of wildflower seeds (deer resistant). It was late in the season, but I scattered them in one of the empty garden beds. And some grew! They came up a month or so ago. This is definitely a marigold- and one of the few left still alive after the chill.

These I think are alyssum

and this one came up in the middle of something else, looks like a monarda

I don't recognize the others- and it was hard to tease out the small weeds from among some of them

but they're all done for now anyways, from the cold

first freeze

was last night. I spent the last two days raking leaves and picking up more pin oak acorns out of the grass. Put some leaf litter/grass clippings mulch around and over some of my plants just as it was getting dark yesterday- the new rosemary, sweetspire, hyssop (which also got cut back to two inches), wild geraniums, lemon balm and tarragon, etc. 

A few days earlier I had spread the compost on all the garden beds- it was just barely enough. I didn't have any left over to feed the ferns, hostas or other yard perennials. Now I'll have to spend this afternoon cutting down the plants killed by frost, that just look icky- the coleus and celosia, the black tatters of leaves on monarda and joe pye stems. Other things that just look dried up, I'll leave be until spring. 

Pictures from compost spreading day, just because it looked so rich. Momentarily- as soon as this was done, I put leaf/grass mulch over the copmost layer. I could tell the soil had been neglected past two seasons- removing some weeds before spreading the compost, found the soil was hard, dry and somewhat compacted. Maybe that's why I haven't seen squirrels digging in the garden so much this year. I thought it was because the hawks and owls passing through our yard more often had taken some of them- but maybe also because the soil just wasn't as soft and inviting, when I hadn't been mulching and feeding it. Well, now it got that treatment again.

another angle- still just as empty.

There are some things still here, though- rue looks great, as if re-flourishing since its little trim

Borage coming up in bed one also has lovely bluish hue, robust leaves

Nicotiana in a few scattered spots

This tall one next to the dill has been blooming like crazy

other side

The dill is over my head again! I would cut the umbrels for more dried seed, but they're still green yet

Here's a smaller dill alone in bed three. 

A few small leeks in bed ten. I'd like to eat them, but want them to grow bigger first.

I cut some bug-riddled leaves out of the lovage, and that looks better now 

My new rosemary looks rather pale. I trimmed it a bit more (using for tea), the leaves look all faintly speckled as if from aphid bites . . . 

The blue sage still has tons of color, though quite a few flower stems are gone to seed now

I found a few bees on them- I think affected by the cold, because they were moving very slowly

but that allowed me to get quite close

I also brought in a lot of potted plants against the cold, and put the young beautyberries in the mini greenhouse to overwinter (never got around to planting them). More pics soon.

Why do I tend to forget how much I love gardening, until I'm out there again? Tidying things up, seeing the richness of the turned compost, digging my fingers through the soil, leaning against the sun-warmed bricks of the bed edges, just feel so content and happy in what I'm doing. It's good work.