Entry tags:
All the animals
We seem to only have one indoor fish left, a three-ish-year-old male White Cloud swimming around on his own. What was the remaining female has been looking a bit sickly for a couple of weeks, which culminated in her spending a couple of days resting on the fake plant, a day lying on the bottom looking miserable, and then no subsequent sightings. There might, or might not, still be a male shrimp in there: we've not seen him for a month or so, but that's not unusual.
We're not sure about the outdoor fish: Mike disturbed a heron the other day, so we put the cover on. At this time of year, though, we don't see them very much. It can't have cleared the pond out, at least: some of the fish in there probably weight nearly as much as a heron!
The ducks are a bit off their feed, which might be partly because it's been so warm and damp that the lawn (and fallen leaves on top of it) are full of tasty bugs. On the other hand, it seems to be more Esme that's not eating, and I noticed a few days ago that she was wheezing slightly as she went in to bed. Yesterday and today, she's been going through phases of just standing there, panting furiously, in between the more usual rootling around in the grass. I'm hoping that she just has a cold, or something, but I think I might call the vet tomorrow and see if I can have a chat with the bird guy (I vaguely remember one of the receptionists telling me that there was a specific vet who did ducks and hens).
I dashed out to jump on GB for twenty minutes before the rain arrived, this morning (in fact it's only just arrived, inevitably as we were walking Jo): we was going nicely, but then his leg went from under him and I decided not to push it. We're supposed to be having a riding lesson tomorrow morning but, given the forecast (solid rain all day; this is an improvement on the forecast from this morning, which was mostly hail) I suspect that it will get postponed.
Yesterday, we took Jodie to some woods a bit further away (it's doable to ride there, have a little pootle around in the woods and then ride back, or was before GB's leg went dodgy), and she got absolutely covered in mud and little burrs: not sure what they were from, similar to goose grass burrs but shaped like pointy acorns. Still, she had a fine time of it: she likes going to places that she knows but doesn't often visit. Yesterday felt very Last Day Of Summer, which is silly for 1 November. Today, on the other hand, feels very Novemberish, and it's forecast to get chilly over the next week.
We're not sure about the outdoor fish: Mike disturbed a heron the other day, so we put the cover on. At this time of year, though, we don't see them very much. It can't have cleared the pond out, at least: some of the fish in there probably weight nearly as much as a heron!
The ducks are a bit off their feed, which might be partly because it's been so warm and damp that the lawn (and fallen leaves on top of it) are full of tasty bugs. On the other hand, it seems to be more Esme that's not eating, and I noticed a few days ago that she was wheezing slightly as she went in to bed. Yesterday and today, she's been going through phases of just standing there, panting furiously, in between the more usual rootling around in the grass. I'm hoping that she just has a cold, or something, but I think I might call the vet tomorrow and see if I can have a chat with the bird guy (I vaguely remember one of the receptionists telling me that there was a specific vet who did ducks and hens).
I dashed out to jump on GB for twenty minutes before the rain arrived, this morning (in fact it's only just arrived, inevitably as we were walking Jo): we was going nicely, but then his leg went from under him and I decided not to push it. We're supposed to be having a riding lesson tomorrow morning but, given the forecast (solid rain all day; this is an improvement on the forecast from this morning, which was mostly hail) I suspect that it will get postponed.
Yesterday, we took Jodie to some woods a bit further away (it's doable to ride there, have a little pootle around in the woods and then ride back, or was before GB's leg went dodgy), and she got absolutely covered in mud and little burrs: not sure what they were from, similar to goose grass burrs but shaped like pointy acorns. Still, she had a fine time of it: she likes going to places that she knows but doesn't often visit. Yesterday felt very Last Day Of Summer, which is silly for 1 November. Today, on the other hand, feels very Novemberish, and it's forecast to get chilly over the next week.