This and That

Another cold and frosty morning.  Sitting here now the sun is shining in a big orange ball lighting up the wall behind the computer, it is a very pleasant light.  Last night we had thick mist and you could not see across the road but it has cleared today.

I have been busy working on the rug I bought to make for Nathan's bedroom much earlier in the year.  I had started work on it but when the weather got very warm I found I could not sit with it draped across my knees so I put it away for the summer.  Whilst decorating, I came across it again and decided to carry on with it.  I enjoyed last night watching the t.v. and working on the rug at the same time.

I am going to start wrapping Christmas presents now that I have got the paper, the tags and the bows, so that is going to take some of my time.  I usually leave it to the last minute but decided to do things differently this year.

Mike will be taking the carpet shampooer over to Becky this morning.  Now that her house is relatively back to order and Dean has done some of the decorating, she wants to give her carpets a good clean. You can imagine the dust that has built up with the builders being in all those months. Eventually the carpet will have to be replaced because some of it had to be cut away for building work, but you can only do a little at a time.

I am quite upset today and it is one of those rare occasions when words have been exchanged between myself and him indoors.  Why?  Well, we seem to have lost all of our fish to a Heron.  Him indoors spent a lot of time making covers for the pond and then did not bother to put them on when the weather got cooler.  Now, he goes into the garden every single day and has to walk right by the pond.  He has even been feeding the fish their winter diet.  We have not been getting up so early in the mornings with all the decorating and therefore not looking out of the window.  This morning I was up very early and glancing out I saw the Heron sitting on top of next door's dead apple tree.  Mike walked in and I pointed it out to him.  Then he tells me thatwhen he has been feeding the fish lately, he has been surprised not to see any!!! Yet, he still did not put the covers on.  I immediately went to the pond and saw only one fish. You can imagine what I said.

We invested a lot of time and money extending the pond from the small one we had to the very large one we have now but considered it worth every penny. To many people, they would be just fish and so what.  But I have had some of my goldfish for twenty-five years and more - they have moved with us on more than one occasion. I still had a couple of fish my late Mother bought for me and they had grown very large. So, in a way it was a last link with her. I could never look at them without thinking of her and all the years that have passed since.  Not to mention the Koi which I had watched grow up from two inches long into nearly eighteen inches in the last year and a half. A lot of the fish were born in our original pond and I saw them develop from little tiny creatures into very big fish.  Now we have the cold weather, we cannot replace any of the fish until next year but really we cannot replace them at all.  I knew every one.  I knew each by its markings.  I have spent so many happy hours watching them, feeding them,  The Koi were at the point where they were eating from our hands. The Heron must have been paying daily early morning visits. Now the fish  are gone, the pond is silent and virtually empty.  I feel empty as well. I have lost much loved and long-standing companions. Not as bad as losing people, I know that, but it has hurt and upset me.

Just the other day I was on top of the world and excited at my monetary win.  I guess this balances things out now.