Grieving is in the air, after all.

On the fish report, we lost five fish altogether.  We are pretty sure we had a tank collapse due to the hot weather, which caused the fish to lose oxygen and suffer nitrate poisoning.  We euthanized them by putting them in water and then in the freezer.  

Yesterday Anders, Auggie, Robert and I had a ceremony for the second fatality--Trippie.  We put her in a toilet paper tube, into the ground, and placed a toothpick witha  flag decorated with little drawings of fish.  Since fire is always a ritualistic hit, of course, we had to burn the flag down. 

Well, we have Blackie left (4 inches long) outside in the pot pond, and tiny Goldie inside in the house tank.  We are thinking about our future with fish. 

Just got home from my walk with Rainey.  She's excited about a book she is reading, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by French author, Muriel Barbery.   I can't wait to read it.

Trippie is still quiet, so Robert transferred her with some pond water into a clear mixing bowl. 

While I was out walking, he discovered that Red Spot is also ill, so both fish are now in the bowl.  Unfortunately, the second of the triplet red goldfish is starting to isolate in the greenery in the outside tank.  We don't know what is happening!

It could be that since the fish have grown over the past few months they are overstocking the size of the tank, creating nitrate overload.  The weather has also been very hot lately. It could be "sudden tank collapse."  If the tank is overstocked, it may be such a delicate balance that an environmental affront like a heat increase could cause the fish to succumb.

Well, she's not dead yet!  Robert noticed that, Trippie, one of our triplets--three red-colored goldfishes-- was acting sluggishly in the outside pond. This is how two of our other fishes began to act before they died from unknown causes. 

Robert gently caught her in a saucepan and transferred her to Goldie's vase tank inside (next to the TV--which we think they watch.)  Now she's in hospital, hopefully recuperating.  She looks rather bloated, so we are thinking that she got overfed last week (goldfish apparently tend to eat and eat without much regulation of their intake.)

Trippie personifies depression.  She literally sinks to the bottom.  She lays her head against a rock and gently breathes her gills in and out.  She stares (although I did see her blink when I was watching her straight on.  I was quite excited to see it.) She moves slowly and sometimes lists to the right side.

She's lasted through the day, so we can only keep an eye on her.

We put a little Epsom salts in the water as a laxative.

Goldie, on the other hand, swims around quite perkily.  She seems to recognize us--expected food-- as we get close to the tank. Robert is careful to feed her only two or three pre-soaked fish pellets (the size of her tiny eyeball) to avoid overfeeding her.  She seems to exhibit no sympathy for her tank-mate's predicament.

The neighbors stopped by to chat while the kids were swinging and throwing buckets of water on each other to cool off. It's unusually hot today.

I got to hold Anya's two-month old baby!

Gunther rolled up on his bike from work.  He showed us the site on his new iPhone (courtesy of Inovis, where he works) where he is one of the models for Patagonia outer wear.  He happened to run into someone who works for them on that Tweed bike ride he did recently. They liked his lifestyle and the fact that he raises vegetables and chickens in the back yard.  Did I mention that last week the hens started laying??

You can see Gunther at http://www.golite.com/main/home.aspx

We had a nice birthday evening for Eliza.  She loved the boeuf bourgignon.  I also made stuffed mushrooms out of Mastering The Art of French Cooking.  They are one of my favorites, and the recipe has been a staple all these years.

Last night I decided I'd go see Julie and Julia.  It was very warm so I made a Salade Nicoise, since I had some good olives and fresh greens left over from Eliza's dinner.  This week, I am really liking a simple salad dressing made of lemon juice, olive oil, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper--and a little squeeze of fresh garlic.  

Synchronicistically, I happened to be wearing the pearl necklace that Sigrid gave me when I went to the movie (pearls were Julia Child's favorite jewelry.)

I loved the movie.  I called Sigrid this morning to tell her that I found my old copy of the cookbook.  She and a few friends are having a Julia Child dinner tomorrow night.  Sig is making a beef dish, and others are bringing dishes, too.  Sounds fun.

This is the first week of school--the first week of kindergarten for Auggie, first week of second grade for Chloe and Anders, and third grade for Trevor.  When we asked Auggie if he liked his first day of school he said, "Of course I did."  

The kids started swinging outside my house after dinner last night. Gunther and Colm (my next door neighbor) were watching the boys and talking about their iPhone applications.  I went off to the movies.