Little Things - Little Guy

Those few dedicated followers of Kinda Fuzzy will remember our Pond Project out here in the woods.  Of course that has been pretty much finished (if these things ever are) for a while now.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie enjoy breakfast down there most mornings-

weather permitting.

 
One consideration has been "topping off" the pond as some water is lost by evaporation.  And there is a slight amount of leakage from the small stream when the fountain pump is operating.

The Fuzz had been using a hosepipe to add water when needed; but this was rather crude, and tended to stir up sediment from the bottom.

So The Fuzz and His Sweetie decided to add this guy.

He is a bit slower than the old system, but much cooler!

 

A couple of days ago, The Fuzz was just chilling there with a glass of tea on a hot afternoon.

Something on one of the plants caught his attention.

At first he didn't think much of it...

But then he took a closer look.

This little fellow was only about ½ in long.

Maybe he felt inspired to come out by that big guy on the rock.

But at his size, he better watch out for those fishes!

 

Post-Family Camping

Family campouts involve family.  But unlike The Fuzz and His Sweetie, most of the family have jobs and other responsibilities.  That is of course why these things are set up for weekends.
Now it was time for them to leave for home and a new week's activities.

This guy must have been planning an escape from the campground by riding out on one of the cars.  He was caught in the act and didn't make it.  But every one did get a good look at him.  The Fuzz likes the color contrast in his portrait.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie, not having jobs to return to, had made arrangements to stay on a few more days on their own.

The Fuzz had discovered that as a "Senior Citizen" he now qualified for a Lifetime fishing license at a very affordable price.  In his youth he had done a good bit of fishing, but it was one of those things that gets dropped as life moves on for us.  But now there was no reason not to have a go at it again.
Since they had been at the lake he had slipped off a few times to "feed the fish" as he put it.  And those guys had eaten up most of his bait.
So the next day, he and His Sweetie slipped out to get some ice, some worms
And…

"Homemade Ice Cream"

The Fuzz found the truck interesting as well having driven a similar one for 20 years or so.  But that is another story for another time.

The ice cream  was good and The Fuzz did manage to replenish his supply of fishing worms.

Early in the morning he got up to attempt a photo of the full moon.
This has been kind of a project for Our Fuzz, and with little success it must be admitted. 
But he hasn't given up yet.

The moon was out and over the lake.
But as can be seen, sorta out of focus.
So he tried a bunch of different things and finally came up with this one.

But he has no idea how!

So now it was time to feed those little fishes again.
The Fuzz got his worms and fish pole, and took off in the kayak.

It is great for getting into those little places that are hard to reach by foot.

While he was there he got a couple of shots of this little fellow.

Here's a view looking back out toward the lake.

With no more bait it was time to paddle back to the camp for a snack and a swim.

And...
The Fuzz is happy to report that he actually did catch some of those fishes-
8 of 'em!

But he did send them back home.
They were happy - The Fuzz was happy!
A good day.  

Dry..? Not Dry..?

It has been kinda dry out here in the woods lately.

And Hot as well.

But when The Fuzz walked down to the small creek behind the trailer yesterday, he was a bit surprised to find this situation!

What happened to the water?

There were a few pools left here and there...

But No Flow!

The creek bed was still pretty wet, and when he poked his cane down into the sand, some water did seep into the hole.

But, Yikes!

In the pool pictured above, several small fish were swimming back and forth, with nowhere else to go.

After some thought, and a word with His Sweetie, The Fuzz decided to try and move at least a few of those guys up into the Garden Pond.  It is already stocked with some of those "feeder" goldfish (8 for a dollar) from the pet store.

The guys from the creek weren't any bigger than the current residents, so The Fuzz figured they might get along okay.

And as things were looking at this point...

they were

DOOMED!

Not having any sort of net, The Fuzz tried to use a bit of window screen, and a bucket to catch those little guys.

But it didn't work out very well.

As soon as he got in there, he stirred up so much muck that it was impossible to even see them, let alone catch the boogers!

So he gave it up as a lost cause.

Then...

This morning, he took a look to see how they were doing.

This time...

What the hell?

No water yesterday...

And no rain since...

But now???

Where'd this come from?

And The Fuzz's little friends seem to be doing okay without him!

Well, one can't complain about this of course,

But it does seem a bit strange,

At least to The Fuzz!

Playing With Pix

The New Camera is a big improvement.  Especially when it comes to reaching out there.

The Fuzz was rather disappointed with the previous one.  It relied on "Digital Zoom".

This just sucked.

Apparently that works by merely cropping the picture.  Of course there is no more detail than if one had done this later, in Photoshop or something similar.

The Fuzz decided to see what happened if he tried this with one of the new pix.

Pretty good.

But Photoshop is for fun stuff too.

Here's a look into the fish tank at His Brother's place.

Fish Pole

The Fuzz and His Sweetie are currently visiting far off places.
They have found, that different people have there own ways of doing things.
Today, as they were walking, they came upon this example of what appears to be a German Fish Pole!
It was not what they were used to at home.

Something Fishy

We had been talking about going to the aquarium for a couple years now. This year was the year. So we took a day to head off to the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher.
Here's a look at some of the people looking at the fishes. There were a lot of fishes there. And some other stuff.
Like Luna, the Albino Alligator.










The Fuzz couldn't resist this Photo Opportunity, so here she is!
Yup, that's Luna, alright.
We went on though the place looking at all kinds of fishes. Some of them can get pretty weird looking. And some are just beautiful.
But The Fuzz regrets that it is a little difficult getting good pix in a place like that.
But he did get a shot of this little feller. He kinda reminded us of an insurance salesman.
But you can make up your own mind about that.
We did enjoy seeing all the fishes. Afterwards, we hit the gift shop for a couple post cards.
On the way out Young Daughter and The Fuzz's Sweetie talked him into stopping for some "Mocha Cappuccino Chiller". But that wasn't difficult.

Gluttonous Goldfish is a Goner

Yup, That Gluttonous Goldfish is no longer with us. It is sad, but true. Nature did finally take it's course. We had thought perhaps he would eventually choke down his oversize meal, but alas, it was not to be. But all was not lost, our flowerbed did receive a bit of fertilization as a result of this sad affair.

Still no well. The Fuzz talked to the Well Digger (or maybe "Well Borer") today, and he expects to be on the job tomorrow. If so, we may have pix of this exciting event soon.

And now, about Tuesday's Mystery Pix.- Not a moldy orange peal. Also not beer foam, although this is close. It is in fact freshly mixed up Orange Juice from our Star Wars Blowout. But here's a new one.

No foam here.
Now for those with insider information,
No Cheating!
For everyone else,
Good Luck.

Delicious Ale

This Delicious Ale was given to The Fuzz by a Thoughtful Daughter

Trader Joe seems to have a good thing going here.
The Fuzz (and His Sweetie) report that is, or rather was, some of the best ever.
It is highly recommended.
We broke it out during our recent Star Wars Blowout.
Many thanks- you know who you are.

And here is one more Mystery Pix!

The Fuzz usually messes around with these things to, you know, make it interesting. But this is pretty much what it is.

And just so you know, the status on our Greedy Little Goldfish is- no change.

Snow and Other Things

They seem to be calling for Snow here tonight. The Fuzz says he'll believe it when he sees it. But then, we have seen it, sorta.

These white looking splotches are in fact Snowflakes! These actually fell from the sky this very morning.
Here is an even closer look. Note the little white specks sprinkled here on these bricks. This is real Snow. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on your point of view) this was pretty much the extent of it. I'm afraid it stopped shortly after this picture was made.
But The Fuzz made a run out to the woods for a load of firewood just so we would be prepared. I realize my Yankee readers are probably scoffing at our diminutive dusting, but we have to make the best of things with what we've got.

You may remember the tale of the Gluttonous Goldfish. Well the situation hasn't changed. But The Fuzz was inspired to compose a tribute to this Foolish Fishy.

A Lesson from a Greedy Fish

He took too big a bite
I'm sure he knows by now
To be a pig ain't right
But it's too late somehow
To choke it down 's too much
And spitting out won't work
The problem is that such
A mouthful makes a jerk.

This weekend we had our Annual Movie Blowout. This year, we brought back the ever popular Star Wars Blowout. This was the original Blowout and we thought it was time to bring it back. I will say that we only watched episodes IV, V & VI, the real Star Wars Trilogy. I mean, what's with all that new stuff anyway? Do we really care about a remake of that Ben Hur chariot race anyway? Be that as it may, we did enjoy watching, snacking and all that stuff.

We'll keep you posted on our little Doofis Fish's Dilemma.

Gluttony Has It's Price

Here is one of our vicious gold fish admiring himself in the glass.

Here is a closer look at the fiend.We had been planing to perhaps donate these Vicious Fishes to a Friend's Fish Pond and be fish free in our future home in the woods. But upon further reflection we thought maybe we would still appreciate having them around. But the tank was seeming just a little empty, and we decided to add a few. The Fuzz's Sweetie purchased a couple more little goldies, and the fuzz thought to grab a couple more.
At the Fish Store he saw some cool little Cat Fish, and knowing from experience that they could live in community with those goldfish, he thought they might be a nice addition, a little variety. There was a brief moment of concern regarding their size, but it wasn't like they were guppies or something.
Everything was fine until this morning when we found this situation. This glutton seems to have bitten off more than he can chew here. Yes he has his little snack, but can't seem to get it down. I suppose if he were a snake, he could just unhinge the jaws and it would be yum-yum time. But alas, this is not the case. We thought of perhaps helping him out a little, but The Fuzz says he's only getting what he deserves. I guess we'll just wait, and let nature take it's course here. It's been all day so far and no change. We'll let you know how it comes out- or doesn't come out.

Regarding our latest Mystery Pix, both Levi and Woodie were on the right track. It is a closeup of the hub of this old rake The Fuzz saw here in the bushes. But of course, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
The Fuzz's Sweetie thinks they were close enough. Maybe, but The Fuzz insists on maintaining high standards here, so, no Noprize. But many thanks to all who participate.

Jumpin' Jellyfish !

Check this out. I hope they weren't wanting Salmon for thanksgiving.


And, also in the News, how 'bout this Knife ?

Art-O-Mat

We took a trip to The Big City over the weekend. This was for the 10th Anniversary and Swap Meet of the Art-O-Mat people. Artistic Big City Daughter and My Sweetie both are involved in this phenomenon. [I tried to set up the link to the Artomat stuff, maybe I did it right, maybe not.]
Sometimes they let me tag along on these things. I did bring my camera, so as to take advantage of the Photo Opportunities. This is a look at some of the affair. The various Artists put their stuff out on these tables and get to look at all the other people's stuff. Here is the stuff My Sweetie and Artistic Big City Daughter brought. The little boxes are the actual Artomat stuff. How it all works is they make some sort of "Art", which can be in just about any medium. But it has to fit into some kind of arrangement the size of a cigarette pack. Because that is what the Artomat is, a retired cigarette vending machine, called back into service to make "Art" available to the masses. So if you ever run up on what appears to be a cigarette machine in a bar or something, it may just be one of these things. You should buy something of course, so My Sweetie can get paid, and maybe, buy me some beer.
But, this is a Swap Meet, so there has to be some swapping. The artists check out the other stuff and often trade each other one of their boxes or what ever. They also have the opportunity to show some of their other stuff and maybe sell something. This is open to the public, after all, they let me in, didn't they ? It's not easy to live as a starving artist. There was stuff for the kids of course. It's always a good idea to keep them occupied in these situations. And they had Refreshments, to keep me occupied.


I really liked this fish. My understanding is that it was printed directly off the real fish. Is that cool or what. I guess they had to keep it cool, maybe on ice. I wonder it they cooked it after the art episode. It's modeling career couldn't have lasted long, and it would be a pity to waste a perfectly good fish. But this prepared me for the next part of out visit to The Big City.

At the Seaside

Well yes, been gone for a while. It was for a good reason though. You see, we had to take this trip. Yes it was the Second Annual Family Beach Trip. Here you can see The Fuzz, himself, on the road again. The Fuzz did not take this photo himself. He had help. He is not able to be in two places at one time, he is just not fast enough.

You may notice that the Little Truck has a big load. This will be the cause of sort of a problem at a later time, but, we won't get into that right now. Last year, the Kayak rode on the Little Truck by itself. But as this Kayak is a "Personal Water-craft" in the fullest sense, only one person can "water-craft" in it at a time. So, not wanting anyone to miss out on the enjoyment of simply messing about, The Fuzz loaded up the big stuff. This was a good move (except for that problem that turned up later).
So there we were on the N.C. Coast, on one of those Big Sandbars they refer to as islands. The place we stayed at was on the Sound side of the Big Sandbar. This means that we had to walk a couple hundred yards to the actual "Beach". It also means that we had access to our own pier and swimming beach, on the relatively quiet, Sound.
Having the canoe, The Fuzz was able to take His Sweetie out across the Sound to where all these weedy things were. When the Tide is out, this is mostly mud with a few channels, and a bunch of birds with long legs and necks hanging around. When the Tide is in, this is a maze of channels though the weeds with a bunch of the same birds. There are also fish and stuff swimming around in there. The Fuzz really likes poking around in places like this. This is looking back toward the Sandbar where we were staying.
Across this muck was the Intercostal Waterway. The Fuzz and His Sweetie paddled their little canoe across to have a look. This boat passed by as they floated there amongst the weeds. It even has Spare Boats on it. Shoot, the Spare Boats are bigger than The Fuzz's canoe.
The Fuzz and His Sweetie had a pleasant morning out there, messing about, one of many pleasant times.

Something Fishy

Kinda gross isn't it. But this fish was not always so. In fact not that long ago, it was a wonderful specimen, complete with scales, fins, and all those fishy things. But we had decided to make this fish, and it's friend, a part of our lives. Not the whole fish of course, but a significant part of them. But what you see here, was destined for the garden.
It may seem a bit strange, even disquieting, to eat something that is watching you at the time, but you get over it. So what's the big deal ? I'm convinced that we all eat a lot of stuff that we would rather not know about anyway. Who knows what was crawling around in those grain elevators ? And what about stuff that comes from China ?
At least this way we can see it is a real fish.

Something Fishy

Who left the water running in the sink ? How did all these fish get in here ? There is something fishy going on here. Maybe someone should open the door or something. Apparently the drought is over.
This is not as bad as it looks, although it did begin as a tale of woe. We like to keep a few fishies around, but not the tropical easy to kill type. But even these hearty goldfishy types do go belly up on occasion. And so it was, that there remained but one lonely little fishy with a deformed tail. Poor fella. It was time for a trip to the fish store. This is always a fun place, not only are there many, many fishies, but kittycats, and fierce birds that will bite your fingers if you get too close. They even got creepy looking snakes and stuff. But we came to see fishies. We picked out a couple fancy tailed ones, but realized that the big old tank would look awful empty like that. But then we see the sign, feeder fish, 8/ $1.00. Oh boy. Some are really pretty, but alas, 8/ $1.00 is you no pick'em. But the charming young lady who waited on us, when she realized we planed to give them a "good home" (instead of feeding them to some monster), went though several tanks picking out the brightest and the best. And we did give them a good home (although it's not quite what it looks like in the picture).
Years ago we lived in a little house out in the boonies with holes in the floor and all that. It was hard to keep warm with only a fireplace for heat. Each night the fishies' water would freeze, and each day it would thaw out and they would swim around happily. But one fateful day, we thawed them out too close to the fire and made chowder. These things are hard to kill, but it can be done.