Just some random things that happened

The other day I decided it was high time to clean my aquarium.  It's not a big one, just 20 gallons and I had eight fish left in it.  These eight fish have been around for a long time, a few years.  

I've been in somewhat of a fog the last several months for reasons most of you can guess, so I haven't been keeping up with a lot of things of which I am normally meticulous.   So the aquarium has really suffered and I am surprised those eight fish were even alive.   I decided to completely re-do the whole aquarium and give it a new look.  Something I do about once a year and I always do the same things beginning with removing the fish and putting them in an extra aquarium for the time being.  So all eight fish were finally removed from the pond scum looking home I had them in.  It literally was that bad, like an old stagnant pond with green algae growing on everything.  

I drained the other aquarium, took out all the old plants and rocks etc, put everything new into it and treated the water to get it ready to move the fish back in.   I always wait several hours before putting them back and I did that this time.  I have never ever had a problem doing it this way.

Finally I put them all back into the original aquarium and they were swimming around happily like they were so grateful to have nice clean clear water.   

Thirty minutes later, I walk in there and all but one fish was floating upside down!  What???  I kind of nudged them just to make sure, and then I removed them all and my granddaughter buried them out in the back yard next to the dog and cat.  Which technically I don't think I was supposed to bury the dog and cat in my back yard because there is probably some city ordinance against that, but I am a country girl at heart as well as a rebel so oh well.  Now I have a real pet cemetary going on.

A little later, the last fish was found floating upside down, so out he went with the others.  

That was my Sunday. I single handedly killed eight fish within 30 minutes.  So now I have a very clean sparkly aquarium with nothing in it .    Maybe I will get new fish or maybe I won't.   I am such a murderer now I don't deserve them!!  

I have been testing the water everyday and it is perfect to add fish, but seeing the way this year has gone, I just can't bring myself to kill anything else!

Last night I woke up to use the bathroom at 2 AM in the morning and as I am sitting on the toilet (no need to picture this !) I hear something fall. It sounded like something getting knocked over in the cabinet under the sink.  Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw something scurry across the floor toward my granddaughter's bedroom.  The first thing I thought was her hamster had somehow gotten out of it's cage, which horrified  me because hamsters might as well be mice and I am insanely terrified of mice and rats and other rodents. Thank goodness I have never seen one in this house and I have lived here 21 years.

I finished my business then went into my granddaughters bedroom and looked in the cage. Normally that rat creature hamster is climbing all over the cage at night, but I didn't see her.  She does tend to burrow under the bedding to sleep, so I tapped on the cage... nothing.  Then I shook the cage... nothing.  Oh crap.   I turned on the light then and tapped on the cage and I see movement under it's little house, so I felt better.  I figured I must have imagined that I saw something.  I turned out the light and walked out and "something" jumps past me.  I looked over toward the bathroom door and there is the ugliest Cuban frog sitting on the door.  Cuban frogs are an invasive species here in Florida and I have seen plenty of them outside, even on the walls of the house, but never saw one in my house.  I had an EEEEKKKK moment, but then realized I was going to have to remove that critter and put it back outside, which was a dilemma because I don't pick up frogs anymore, now that I am an adult and I don't like touching certain critters.   

I went and got a water pitcher and figured I would put it over the frog and he would get inside and I could cover it and take it outside.  Only Mr. Frog had other plans. Everytime I got close he would hop to another door or wall and I would just miss him.  He stayed up high too and me, being vertically challenged could not reach him, so I got the broom and tried to nudge him down a little, but no, Mr. Frog decides to hop down and very quickly hop away.  I chased his little azz into the kitchen and then he headed for the office but I quickly shut the door, so he jumped on the door of the office and finally I was able to get him in the pitcher but realized I didn't have anything to cover the top so I used the straw end of the broom to cover it.   He was "Hopping" mad !!!  Jumping around like crazy in that pitcher.  I opened the front door and tossed him out and he hopped away.  But I have this terrible feeling he is going to be lurking up on the wall one evening and when I least expect it, he will jump on my head and I will have a heart attack and die right there on the front porch with a frog on my head 😨😨😨 .   

I have that same fear about those ugly pink geckos that crawl around on the ceiling of the front porch, but that is a story for another day. 

Lia  10/14/2021

This is not the frog, but this is what they look like. The one in my house was much bigger....