Springtime in Virginia

Early morning view from one of the kitchen windows~

AHHHHHHHHHH ~ Spring has come to Virginia~ The golfers are out early...notice the tracks in the dew behind the cart.

Early morning view of upper deck which offers splendid views for photos.

Yellow wild finch are males and brownish are female.

We have a big group each year~ both purple and yellow. They stay all winter and all become brown to blend in with winter colors in nature.

The fish pond is full of tadpoles~ The grandchildren enjoyed catching them to move down to the lake.

THEY HAD A BALL !!

Koi Spanning

So much is going on right now for us when suddenly

another event takes front and center of our attention.

Our

wonderful white Koi had become very

erratic. Her usual behavior is graceful, gentle and mindful of all her pondmates.

I could see her from my

kitchen window ~

she was in the shallows and

seemed to be trying to

beach herself by thrusting and coming out of the water onto the flat rock. Once with her head on the rock, out of water, she would take in large audibly gulps of air.

WHAT was going on? I watched in fear.

Pondside, I wondered if there was a "fish doctor" I could call...seems

she was dying. I don't know fish CRP or anything except how to feed them.

Two of the other Koi were with her as if harassing her. She doubled and thrashed...and I stood by thinking, knowing there was nothing I could do for her.

"Let nature take it's course," I kept thinking to calm myself.

Came to the Internet to discover, she was spanning. It explained the behavior of the males around her ...again I am thinking and will let nature take it's course.

I placed an artificial thick greenery over the place where we spanned to give the little guys a chance....and then made "safe houses" for them as well.

I cut little doors and a bunch of little windows (about 1/2 in sq)

in a couple of discarded black plastic flower pots that have the holes in the bottom and have submerged them here and there in the pond.

Our fish are beloved as they are so interesting.

Isn't she beautiful? Her head is shaped like a 747 and she has eyelashes. Disney could make a movie about her.

Do you have experience with Koi?

Treasure Chest of Memories

Fourteen of us went to dinner last night~ the chatter was lively and fun even when it came to swapping stories of mishaps involving traffic tickets. If you drive at all, seems everyone has at least one. Right?
Misadventures are always funny in hindsight as they reveal our naivety as well as kick you in the wallet to help you remember.

Dave said his simple, seemingly easy and safe U turn in North Carolina cost him $150.

One of my stories was how I had a little disagreement with a nice young policemen about just how red the traffic light was ~ and told him I would see him in court.
Well~
He happily obliged and with that, didn't fail to show up. What I didn't know was that the Judge ALWAYS sides with the policeman.
I didn't have a chance.
Cost me the ticket PLUS court cost~ took all morning to do all of this ~

When out to the parking lot and had a ticket on my car~ FOR PARKING IN THE WRONG LOT!
I mailed this one in~
This story has a moral~ Never attempt to fight a ticket.
It's like Wiley Coyote~
we laugh hardest when our dumb little misadventures blow up in our face. Right? (smile)