My Life Right Now
Aug. 7th, 2004 02:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
farlaWith my mom's teaching over, we've dove into tasks that have gotten put off all summer. This happens every year. We say we'll do something in the summer, but really everything waits until August. Which is why I haven't been writing much.
It's been strangely cold, so it's only now I managed to scrub out the thirty gallon, which I've meant to do for two months (I can't carry it myself, so I had to wait for my father to do it, and he wouldn't until my mother decided it was warm enough and that we'd have somewhere to put it afterward…). But at least that's finally done. I'm going to bail it out after I finish this entry.
My crayfish has molted again, so now instead of a huge horrible buglike thing, I have a gigantic horrible buglike thing. I can't wait for her to go back. Crayfish are okay small, but she's almost half a foot now. Plus she's giving me nightmares about people cutting the legs off of crayfish (there were two crayfish, one large and one small. I was worried the big one would eat the little one, and my mother casually mentioned that if they started fighting, she could take the big one out and cut of its pincer). The last crayfish died when the power went out and their filter did too (the water was filthy then) so every time I wake up I worry the power went out in the night and she's dead. My mother woke me up yesterday by coming into my room and saying 'Oh, the crayfish is dead.' After I jumped up she said 'Nevermind, just molted.' And I worry I'm not feeding the crayfish enough or I'm feeding her the wrong food or I'm overfeeding her. I don't need the stress. And I don't even like her much.
My outdoor goldfish seem to have hit the limit of their growth in the tank. I'm not sure if they should get the thirty gallon or if the three little ones should. I'm going to have to move them all inside soon, but we should have the hundred gallon tank by then. And the older beta's been nasty and snapping at them. I think it's the heat since he calms down on colder days. He looks okay except he has some sort of old blister on his fin. It doesn't seem to be bothering him, so I'm just watching it for now.
My two kittens are regressing. They spend all their time outside on the porch and they won't let me touch them. They still come to my room to eat at night, but I'm not allowed to lock them in anymore, so they're not getting any human contact and they're just getting wilder and wilder. At least my other cat has stopped trying to kill them. We need to block off areas, but even if I chase them off the porch, they'll just hide down the basement, and I can't close that because the door was taken off. I don't know what we're going to do with them. There's no way anyone will adopt them. They're too old even if they weren't so timid. At least they don't scratch.
And my cats are fighting with something. Something bit my female cat's leg really badly and she's been limping for a week, and my other one has cuts on his face from running into bushes. I threw out meat once (a bad idea, I'm just used to throwing out food for animals where we lived before) and it all vanished overnight. It was more than a fox could have eaten, and a neighbor did warn us about coyotes, but there are so many fat, calm squirrels around, so I don't know.
We hired someone to clear out the backyard, because about half of it was covered in bushes. He's done that but my mom's livid because he also cut down some trees she didn't want cut. I guess we needed it cleared, but I feel bad looking at stumps with twenty rings. We can also see our neighbor's yard now, so I want to plant something there. And we found a grape vine in the back. It's huge, at least a hundred years old. We're not sure what we're going to do with it. Or any of the yard, really. We haven't had a yard we're been in charge of since I was a little kid, my dad lived in a pretty built-up area when he was younger, and my mother's family believes grass is just taking up space that could be used for vegetables, so none of us really have any idea of what to do. (Definitely a pond though. I need something big enough for nine goldfish)
And the last plants in the garden have finally bloomed. They've got the best blossoms too, about as big as my hand.
It's been strangely cold, so it's only now I managed to scrub out the thirty gallon, which I've meant to do for two months (I can't carry it myself, so I had to wait for my father to do it, and he wouldn't until my mother decided it was warm enough and that we'd have somewhere to put it afterward…). But at least that's finally done. I'm going to bail it out after I finish this entry.
My crayfish has molted again, so now instead of a huge horrible buglike thing, I have a gigantic horrible buglike thing. I can't wait for her to go back. Crayfish are okay small, but she's almost half a foot now. Plus she's giving me nightmares about people cutting the legs off of crayfish (there were two crayfish, one large and one small. I was worried the big one would eat the little one, and my mother casually mentioned that if they started fighting, she could take the big one out and cut of its pincer). The last crayfish died when the power went out and their filter did too (the water was filthy then) so every time I wake up I worry the power went out in the night and she's dead. My mother woke me up yesterday by coming into my room and saying 'Oh, the crayfish is dead.' After I jumped up she said 'Nevermind, just molted.' And I worry I'm not feeding the crayfish enough or I'm feeding her the wrong food or I'm overfeeding her. I don't need the stress. And I don't even like her much.
My outdoor goldfish seem to have hit the limit of their growth in the tank. I'm not sure if they should get the thirty gallon or if the three little ones should. I'm going to have to move them all inside soon, but we should have the hundred gallon tank by then. And the older beta's been nasty and snapping at them. I think it's the heat since he calms down on colder days. He looks okay except he has some sort of old blister on his fin. It doesn't seem to be bothering him, so I'm just watching it for now.
My two kittens are regressing. They spend all their time outside on the porch and they won't let me touch them. They still come to my room to eat at night, but I'm not allowed to lock them in anymore, so they're not getting any human contact and they're just getting wilder and wilder. At least my other cat has stopped trying to kill them. We need to block off areas, but even if I chase them off the porch, they'll just hide down the basement, and I can't close that because the door was taken off. I don't know what we're going to do with them. There's no way anyone will adopt them. They're too old even if they weren't so timid. At least they don't scratch.
And my cats are fighting with something. Something bit my female cat's leg really badly and she's been limping for a week, and my other one has cuts on his face from running into bushes. I threw out meat once (a bad idea, I'm just used to throwing out food for animals where we lived before) and it all vanished overnight. It was more than a fox could have eaten, and a neighbor did warn us about coyotes, but there are so many fat, calm squirrels around, so I don't know.
We hired someone to clear out the backyard, because about half of it was covered in bushes. He's done that but my mom's livid because he also cut down some trees she didn't want cut. I guess we needed it cleared, but I feel bad looking at stumps with twenty rings. We can also see our neighbor's yard now, so I want to plant something there. And we found a grape vine in the back. It's huge, at least a hundred years old. We're not sure what we're going to do with it. Or any of the yard, really. We haven't had a yard we're been in charge of since I was a little kid, my dad lived in a pretty built-up area when he was younger, and my mother's family believes grass is just taking up space that could be used for vegetables, so none of us really have any idea of what to do. (Definitely a pond though. I need something big enough for nine goldfish)
And the last plants in the garden have finally bloomed. They've got the best blossoms too, about as big as my hand.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-08-08 08:30 am (UTC)Especially cats. I'm definately getting cats when I live in my own house.
Anyway, do write more. :) And keep us ("us" as in me and a bunch of anonomous journal-spies) updated on your pets. ^_^
no subject
Date: 2004-08-09 09:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-10 03:28 am (UTC)The evil that lurks in those who hop
Date: 2004-08-08 10:00 am (UTC)If you do plan on getting a pond you are going to have to get something to cover it in the night. A friend of mine had a pond and frogs kept jumping on the fish during the night and killing them- though I'm not exactly sure how
Re: The evil that lurks in those who hop
Date: 2004-08-09 02:16 pm (UTC)Re: The evil that lurks in those who hop
Date: 2004-08-09 08:55 pm (UTC)There aren't any raccoons where I live. They were all killed off a decade or two ago, and wading birds are really rare and don't leave the big ponds when they fly through. I kept some goldfish out in pretty shallow water before where I used to live (I hadn't heard it was dangerous then) and nothing happened, so I'm pretty sure the animals around here aren't good fishers. Unless coyotes are, since there weren't any where I used to live. I'll have to check which wild animals fish.
Re: The evil that lurks in those who hop
Date: 2004-08-09 08:29 pm (UTC)That's curious. I know they sell frogs to put in ponds, but I guess really big ones can eat fish. I'll have to research it. I haven't seen or heard any frogs yet, though. I don't know if there are any.
Re: The evil that lurks in those who hop
Date: 2004-08-10 08:17 am (UTC)