19.
A mixed set of pix

How many times can you drop a camera before it quits working?
I'm counting.
My next camera is going to have a bulletproof case and a
zoooooooom lens.

Today the most happiest of surprises in my fishpond.
The pond brutalized by the raccoon....but I'll take back some of what I said about him.
He didn't eat all my fish.
Just traumatized them into hiding for a few days.

I went to The Frog Prince and bought five feeder fish for a dollar.
Brought them home and put three in the big pond and two in the nursery pond.
This afternoon I went out to see how everyone was getting along and
wowiezowie! I had twenty or more babies sky hooting all over the place ...
and my three old gold fish placidly grazing.
Those three goldfish are almost neon they are so deeply orange...
a combination of the sun and the wild goodies they eat....just like the egg yolk color from free range chickens...vivid.
But...back to the babies...from whence they came? I haven't a clue....well, yeah, a clue, but it's still a bit of a mystery.
Gold fish lay eggs
and then they eat them.
I never dreamed of having babies, but somehow a handful survived.
Gold fish eat babies.
....lordy, someone must have layed a thousand eggs and just got tired of eating fish for dinner every night.

It only takes two to under seven days for an egg to hatch...and some of these babies are soooo tiny you can barely see them...but some are older, and some are even older.
Fish For Sale
All of the babies are dark. Just like some foals are born dark and don't get their mama's color until they age, goldfish don't become their true color until they age a bit either.

Once upon a time I dug a hole and stuck a hose in it...
and now I have a whole, healthy ecosystem.
Fish darting around eating, snails sliding over aglea covered rocks, water lilies blooming, beautiful red dragon flies flitting over the surface....I feel like Mother Earth.

Today's lily...so lovely


The old birdhouse, refurbished, and relocated.
But the squirrels empty it speedily...and the dropped seeds are sprouting weeds....so I have to rethink this.
Maybe I'll just stick a candle in it, and it can be a garden light...or not.
Notice the tall elephant garlic growing next to it?....taller than I am at five,five.

Here is a closeup of the garlic bloom.

Several years ago I planted two or three buds

and nothing happened. I forgot them and started building my garden around them. They must have like the company because zoom! This one shot out of the ground and grew really fast.

I've never raised garlic and am looking forward to digging it up.

A rare flower cultivated by only our family. Not available
Family: Hentgesrosamultiflower
Genus: Rudolphispanic

Species: Femalewonder

Common Name: Holland Isla (Hollydolly)