betta fish – Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs..

Hello everyone! My coffee today is darn good, I am going to be honest.

First off, I hope everyone in the path of this hurricane is safe. Helene is looking pretty wicked. My brother and family head to Disney tomorrow, and I am also worried about that! I am keeping all involved in my prayers this weekend.

Update: I wanted to add that I am so shocked and sad over the passing of Dame Maggie Smith. We watch so many of her movies in this house, both as part of Comfy Cozy Cinema, and just in our regular watching. Maggie Smith could say volumes in a glance, and cut to the bone with her dry wit. Her performances always had me giggling, but she also could tug the heartstrings and convey compassion as well. Her performances were always masterful and I am grateful that she left behind such a large and plentiful portfolio of movies for us to watch and enjoy. May she rest in peace.

Maggie Smith photographed in 1960 Credit: Photo: FremantleMedia Ltd/REX

Looking back at our past week or so, it was pretty..sedate. Wyatt and I were either sick or recovering from our cold, and while they were mild (just congestion) we didn’t feel like doing much. We pretty much just read and did some schoolwork and Wyatt played. I think our bodies needed a little break.

During the week though Billy and I noticed that our female Betta has shredded fins. It made us super nervous that maybe she had fin rot and we couldn’t figure out why. So we scooped out some of her water and took it up to the fish store for a test and to talk to the owner. Our water tested perfectly, and she doesn’t live with any other fish that would chew on her, so it was a bit of a mystery. The woman who works there finally determined that since she was in a community tank of other female bettas when we bought her, that she came to us a little chewed up and then developed an infection from her wounds. We bought some blue stuff to treat her – we drop a little in the water every night before bed and that should clear up her infection within seven days, hopefully. For a fish she has a pretty cute personality. I can even get her to jump up for food. It is super cute. She is loved so we hope she recovers. The guy said since she is eating and still zooming around her tank that she should be ok.

However, Sunny the snail lives with her normally, and the fish store told us we might want to take him out during the treatment. So we set up a small bowl for him to live in temporarily, and the first night in, he showed us how much he didn’t care for it. I woke up the next morning, and he was missing! I looked around and around near the bowl, and found him halfway across the room, laying there like a man in a desert! Billy hurriedly scooped him up and put him back in the water. Sunny is an aquatic snail so he shouldn’t be out of water. We are mystified as to how he got that far – and where was he going? And how long could that have taken? My friend suggested that he saw the other aquarium across the room and was trying to make it there, which made me giggle to think about – but, maybe? It’s a mystery!

We also decorated for fall and Halloween, to boost our spirits. I am loving all of our decorations, it makes it feel so warm and cozy in here, all the fall leaves and burnt orange, the pumpkins and ghosts. It made us happy! We also stopped in at Trader Joes after Wyatt’s epilepsy appointment the other day, and bought up most of their seasonal line. We may have gone a little crazy! It is easy to do there though! I also bought two items to include in the comfy cozy care package that Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I will be hosting a giveaway for very soon.

Billy is adding some flourishes to Wyatt’s ramp, to make things more comfortable for him to play out there. He just has the railings and then it will be completely finished!

And here are just a few random photos from the roll!

And that is it from me today! I hope that whatever you do, you do something that makes you smile.

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is doing well! I was in a bit of a mood yesterday, and looking back it seems really common for me to be in a bit of a funk in August. In my blog last year I even quoted Sylvia Plath, and her reference to August as the “odd uneven time”. And who am I to argue with that, it feels so true. Today though, the sun is shining and I am feeling a bit more me, and less like the algae at the bottom of a pool during a long humid summer. (last night I was texting my friend Lisa and I was being super emo on purpose and referred to myself as the algae and she told me to write a poem, and I added on some worn out and dirty flip flop imagery. Just being silly. Lol)

We have been having a lot of fun though lately. We went to a Parisian-inspired brasserie for Billy’s birthday, and then the next day, which was way too hot and humid to actually be outside, we went for a drive to see what we could see.

Everyone was enjoying the lily pads, including that adorable young buck there. We hung out riverside for a bit, the breeze just idling past us as we sat in the back of the Subaru until we just could not do it any longer. Look at my poor little guy! He shows heat immediately!

Afterwards we were feeling peckish so we pulled in to an A&W. Are these just a Michigan thing, or are they all over? It’s just a drive up restaurant, like you see in all those 1950s movies, where you eat in your car. Billy ordered a root beer float for us all to share which was the perfect idea on such a hot day.

We also had a sad moment Saturday morning. Our beautiful Betta, Moon, had passed away in the night. Wyatt was upset over this, as was I. I could not figure out why either, which was more troubling. We took a sample of our water in to the aquarium store we go to, which only deals with fish and they are very knowledgeable, and the nice lady who always helps us, Sam, checked our water parameters and said our water was perfect. I showed her a picture of our set up to make sure I didn’t have to many plants, and nope that wasn’t it either. So we talked about some different things, trying to brainstorm what happened to our poor Moon – is the filter too fast, creating a current? No. Anything obviously wrong, like discoloration of the fins, etc? Nope. Then we got to feeding. I only fed him 3-4 pellets once a day, with a fasting day, which is what you are supposed to do. However, I do feed the snail in there as well, and we came to the conclusion that he was snacking on Sunny’s food too, and Betta’s will eat themselves to death. We decided as well that since I do have so many plants that I don’t need to give Sunny a wafer to supplement his food. We did end up getting another fish for Wyatt, which he has named New Moon. This one is a female Betta, and has the shorter fins. She is very pretty, petite, and very zippy. As a mother I am obsessed with keeping this fish alive for my kid; I told my Dad, of all the pets we have Wyatt decides he most loves the two fish, who are the most fragile. I am happy he loves them though.

We also went to a good old-fashioned block party on Saturday! The next block down was having a block party, with the street closed off and everything, and one of the families who we talk to here and there invited us down. We didn’t stay super long since it was so humid and hot, but we did go and hang out for a bit. It was nice to chat with them more than just the hi here and there small talk. And Wyatt had a blast!!! They had a ramp for bikes and of course, Billy took Wyatt up and down it. And his face! He also tried to go up it by himself when were chatting which gave me a heart attack. That kid, I swear. Lol.