Caryl

Too hot for toasties! - plus I said I wasn't going to cook on our anniversary and Grant is so slow at preparation we would be eating around midnight (assuming he gets home at all). I have set up the stock trough to put snails in from the main pond. This means they are easy and quick to gather next time someone does a run to ChCh and is willing to take them down for Donna's turtles. We have so many snail eggs on the underside of the lilies that we will not run out of snails any time soon. Yes, they are snail eggs as they look different to goldfish eggs.

Can't decide what to have for tea tonight. Too hot to cook (besides which I had already said I wasn't cooking today), can't be bothered dressing nicely to eat at a restaurant, can't decide what sort of takeaways :dunno: Thought I'd get a gourmet pizza from the supermarket but they only had two and neither were 'gourmet' enough to pay $13.00 for. :roll:

Hang on a minute! Joe, were you not once really interested in pigeons yourself? Did your dad not get involved as a result of your interest? Did he not spend many hours, and dollars, building bird aviaries in the backyard, not just for pigeons but for your other birds? :dunno:

Wow! Just watching Joanna Lumley's Greek Odyssey on TV1. She visited the 4th century theater of Epidaurus and Nana Mouskouri, showing how good the acoustics are, sang part of Ave Maria. She still has a wonderful voice at 78. You youngin's probably don't know the name but Nana Mouskouri has sold nearly 400 million discs worldwide, recording about 1,500 songs in 15 languages on 450 albums. She has more than 230 gold and platinum albums worldwide, making her a candidate for the best-selling female recording artist of all time.

Thanks. Just discovered the traditional gifts are coral or jade so don't bother suggesting we set up a marine tank people! A married couple in their early 60s were out celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary in a quiet, romantic little restaurant. Suddenly, a tiny yet beautiful fairy appeared on their table and said, "For being such an exemplary married couple and for being faithful to each other for all this time, I will grant you each one wish." "Ooh, I want to travel around the world with my darling husband," said the wife. The fairy moved her magic wand and, in a flash of blinding light, two first class tickets for the Queen Mary II luxury liner appeared in her hands. Now it was the husband's turn. He thought for a moment and said: "Well, this is all very romantic, but an opportunity like this only occurs once in a lifetime, so, I'm sorry, my love, but my wish is to have a wife 30 years younger than me." The wife and the fairy were deeply disappointed, but a deal is a deal, so the fairy made a circle with her magic wand and, in a flash of blinding light, the husband became 92 years old. The moral: Men might be ungrateful idiots, but fairies are... female.

We have spent the day doing nothing much. Very enjoyable. Have just remembered it is our 35th wedding anniversary tomorrow so trying to get the enthusiasm to do something to celebrate it :yaw1:

How long are you away for? Many fish can survive up to 2 weeks without feeding. It depends on tank, species, stocking levels and filtration. I have no experience with fish feeders but the ones I have seen have sat on top as I have heard people say it is important to keep the food dry or it clumps and jams the feeder. Not sure if they are moisture-proof enough to go under a fitted lid but I assume there are some that do so.

Time for another update since this pond was started in Feb 2006. Here it is today... As you can see, the lilies and oxygen weed have grown well... And yes, there are fish in it, about 50 odd I think...

You need to join the Photography Club and go on their outings.

Grant says you can borrow his macro lens (EFS60mm USM) if you want as he knows you will be careful with it. He has a Canon 450 and he thinks it will fit the 400. He also has a 75 - 300mm telephoto lens that came with the camera but he got a better lens so you can borrow the other too.

I am turning into the Crazy Cat Lady! We now have all 3 of our daughter's cats here (temporarily I hope - as is she!). Charlie Bucket was finally caught this morning (he disappeared from his old house) and is roaming about sniffing but will hopefully settle as he realises the other two cats are here... Denny Crane settled in immediately. In fact, I don't think he realises he has moved! :slfg: And Pickles is his usual nervous self. He comes in to eat then disappears (unless it's raining then he sits on Kelly's bed)

Our power was recently off for 7 hours and I had no problems whatsoever. A lot depends on how heavily stocked your tank is, the size of the fish, and the amount of plants etc. Do as David R suggests and you shouldn't have any problems.

I know people in the local photography club (ie the Pres and Sec) plus Grant has a few extra lenses for his Canon. What sort are you thinking of? Of course, I doubt many photographers would be willing to lend an expensive lens to anyone, especially a teenage boy, no matter how much they claim they will be careful and can be trusted!

Opened the post today to find over $2,000 worth of bills! Almost half of it (only 3 bills) is insurance, which has gone up $377.00 this year. Bah humbug.

My pond, when I set it up, tends to be warmer than my tropical tank and can sit around 28C. I would suggest no more than a degree per day, depending on the fish species as some are only semi tropical anyway so will adapt to the lower temps a lot faster.

:happy1:

Photos and article please someone! Doesn't have to be long winded (people prefer pics anyway) just the basic owners' and fish names, tank dimensions etc. :bounce:

There are little kids there too so they are always up early, not matter what they did the night before

I assume all the New World supermarkets do it but ours had their 'special day' they have every year at this time. Staff dress up and wander about offering free goodies. I went shopping and enjoyed a small piece of chocolate cake, salmon dip on crostinis, salmon fresh on a spoon, cheese and bacon croissant, choc coated strawberry, pikelets with jam and cream plus a 3 nut and cranberry mix (over the course of the day) On a sour note, I have had to call noise control on the neighbours again. Why they think the rest of us want to hear their music, profanity filled conversations, and their little motorbike being ridden around the lawn, I can't imagine. I was put on hold when I rang - turns out I was not the first to complain! I had gone over earlier about the music and got a quick apology and it was turned down immediately but alas, it did not last. When the music from there drowns out our TV, through double glazing, it is too loud.

:nfs:

Good grief they are only leopardfish. Certainly not worth anything like that But if they can find someone willing to pay that then good luck to them. Caveat emptor

It's a little added excitement for the fish hovmoller at the start of their outdoor holiday Similar to a bungy jump without the extra bounce :thup:

I have thrown tropical fish into an outside pond over summer months. Guppies, swords, platies, lots of barbs and tetras, danios and bristlenoses immediately come to mind.

You have obviously not seen a blue heron fishing in a pond. It is unbelievable how large a fish they can grab, and how fast!

It is also possible he can afford to heat said pond and perhaps had oscars or other large cichlids in it. A heron could clean out a pond in a matter of hours too.