Crumbly terrarium!

Indoor play

I've been having fun getting inspiration from other bloggers. However, Rain is stopping blogging, as have several other people I follow. I volunteer once a week, and haven't any close friends here. It's a small, but supportive community online. Val, at Mulewings, has brought me inspiration with her little figure tableaux pieces. I am going to keep my little set and set them up outside. 

 I wanted to remove my terrarium for our seasonal decor. (I bought it that at an 'antique' store.) Hooper cat had fun with it, back in his time. He was fascinated with it. I stuffed it with fairy furniture. Cleaning the brass made it shine. The plants changed over time, as I found many did not survive. Hooper was quiet keen on them. 

Sadly I cannot keep it up. The copper is deteriorating, water leaking from the seams. The plants just don't have the right humidity balance. I give up. This is a tribute to it.

The decorations manager is fine tuning his decor.

❄️ In Gravenhurst they've a webcam. We used to drive past Campbells Landing Marina between Gravenhurst and Bala, where we lived for a time. I enjoyed living by the lake, except for the jet skis and snow machines.

We've had some snow. Just a few cm over a few days. It is protecting the ecosystem. I noticed that last year we had about as much rain as snow. There is that.

Outdoor play

The fisher has been an inspector, but I think Barry is safe inside. 

 

 The fisher and I inspected Barry's Lodge. I was careful on the ice. This is as far as I ventured. It's not very deep. By the time I got to where I am standing, I turned around. 

Barry, I presume, is safe inside. Barry must have run out of time to gather winter food. I hope he's sleeping!

 

The goldfish tank mystery

But first, here we are, February! We had rain last year in February. We'll see how this goes.

We are expecting a polar vortex, with really cold temperatures. These are, of course, in Celsius.

To give some more information: 

Divers & Sundry asked, and no, there is no way to find the antlers now. I think they must be under a foot of snow, at least. Walking in the snow, even with snowshoes, is really difficult. I think they aren't on our property, either!

DrumMajor said, One deer looks like it has some tumors on it's back "knees." 

The deer have glands at the joints, and during mating season, especially, the fur puffs up. Here is an example of the puffed out tarsal gland. The females have their own glands, letting the bucks know when they are in the mood for love! This from the Whitetail Savvy book!  The puffy fur allows more scent to get into the air.

The cats have always loved fishtanks. There is warmth coming out of the light hood. When a feline is stuck indoors, and there is nothing to do in winter, it is good fun! Daisy was a wee cat, but Cinnamon – I am afraid he'll bust the topper. Oliver liked the smaller aquarium. 

 

You can see Hooper on top of the tank, while Isabelle makes us sandwiches. He didn't fish. He just sat. This was February, 2019.

Back to the present.

I'm having trouble with Cinnamon and the goldfish tank. Here in 2021:  He is trouble!. We've gone back to using the spray bottle of water to encourage him to jump down. I can hear him messing around with the styrofoam from the other room. 

I cleaned the tank, as I do at the end of the month. I stuck some styrofoam in the opening up top last year, or the year before. It worked then. He began to pull it out with his claws this week. I covered it up with a thick knapkin. Next day, stuck a long ruler across all this. In this photo, you can see the piece of heavy cardboard I put on the back of the tank on top of the styrofoam. 

When our grandies were here in the fall, Isabelle sketched and named them. Clownfish and Tigerfish aren't there anymore.

Sadly, yes, some fish are missing. I don't know if they died, or if Cinnamon is to blame. Nutmeg seldom sits here. Cinnamon isn't the fierce hunter that she is. Cinnamon ran when the vole chased him. He just likes the motion. I don't know. 

The little ones that bred with the alewives. I remember one with black fins. Gone! 

I've had baby goldfish, but they don't seem to thrive in the tank.

I am going to have to try and find more fishies this year. Due to supply chain issues and COVID restraints, they've been scarce in stores. Percy came from Brockville in 2018, from Ritchie's. Perhaps will have to do some research in spring. 

Those were the days! 

R.I.P. Hooper

He lived here from Dec., 2017 until Nov. 5, 2019. [ We have a new kitten!]

When we adopted him, two years ago, his siblings had gone. He was about to go back to Lanark Animal Welfare Society from where he was in the pet store, looking for a home. He had eye infections and the sneezles. He insisted on being out at night. I was trying to reverse this, but it was difficult. He was a Harlequin Tabby. A sweet character.

Daisy loathed him, green with jealousy, and she was rehomed as the terror and stress was awful. I knew something like this would happen after we rehomed Daisy.

Hooper was struck by a car Tuesday, Nov. 5, at 6:30 at night. I heard it, having gone out on the front deck to check on him. The car did not stop. A couple of pickup trucks slowed, so I knew something was wrong on the highway. I put a coat on over my housecoat, grabbed a flashlight and went out to the road. A nice couple stopped as he was dying, and put him in their truck. We brought him up the driveway, home.

It was a short life, but it was a good life. He lived it to the fullest. He was loved by us and the grandies.