Two little black bucks went off to their new home - which means for a short while, all of the April colony babies were sold! But a few minutes later we met the guy coming to return one of them we sold a couple weeks ago. So, we have one broken chestnut buck now that will need a new home. They called him Clover, so that's what we will call him in the meantime. He's the sweetheart with the torn ear. Easiest of all of them to catch, handled since they were itty bitty. I'm sad to see him come back, but I'm happy he is safe here rather than being dumped somewhere else.
While we were there, I also picked up a little fantail goldfish. Our tank is getting a bit of a problem with dark algae, that the algae eater doesn't seem to like. I know from past experience that goldfish will eat it and clean up the rocks, so here we go. I picked out a little orange and white one. I hope he (or she) does a good cleanup job. This fish will join Slim (weather loach), Eaty (green corydora), and Jon Snow (albino bristle nose pleco) in the 29-gallon aquarium.
Entertaining is not my strong suit. I don't "people" well, so as more and more people arrived, I decided to go tend to the fairy garden. I pulled some grass that was growing in it, straightened some of the blue glass pieces that make up the water, and added a few things that my mom had bought for it.
The fairy garden now has three houses, two new fairies, a couple of cartoonish turtles, and two trees with faces. They don't really match the rest of the decor, but it's Mom's garden, and if she liked them enough to buy them, I'll add them in. I also replaced some of the green glass stepping stones with actual pieces of moss. I have no idea if they'll actually survive or not, but I figured it might be worth a shot. I still haven't gotten to the tiered terra-cotte garden project.
My only problem with that (other than finding time to get it done)? There was one single columbine plant (we call it honeysuckle) in the far end of the space. The space reserved for my brother's (still living) second dog, so he can be laid to rest next to his brother when it's his time to go. I may have to dig it up and transplant it, since I don't want to mow it or cover it up with landscape fabric.
Tonight the girls are spending the night at grandma's house, and the boys are home with us. I'm hoping we can get a good portion of work done before we have to go back to pick up girls. We also have to make a trip with an empty vehicle to pick up more supplies from Menards to continue all the garden projects.
Tonight there are three ducklings in the incubator, so one hatched today. One more egg has pipped, and the last remaining eggs are silent and still. I suspect they're no longer viable. I will be moving the three (or four) ducklings to the brooder tomorrow. For some reason the incubator is especially unbearably stinky this time around. I clean it between every hatch, and the babies aren't in there for more than a couple days to prevent too much of a mess. This time it's just stinky. Thankfully this is our final hatch for the year, so after this last pipped egg hatches, I can clean it up and store it away until next year.
In other news, Tony finally settled on a name for his Saint Bernard puppy. Her name will be Mazikeen. Maz or Maze for short.
I smell like campfire, I've dealt with kids and people all day, and I am exhausted. We didn't get home until midnight, and it's now just past 1:30am as I finish typing up my blog. I don't have the energy to take a shower before bed. I'll just go to sleep, and tomorrow I can wash the sheets to get the campfire smoke smell out. Goodnight all!