Well, we made it to Friday Harbor. The trip was pretty uneventful, though I truly hate the stress of packing and moving. Especially un-fun was the stress of packing for three months. We're basically setting up housekeeping here for the summer, but Shaun also had to bring a bunch of lab equipment, so the space in the car was limited. In addition to the aquariums and the cat, I wanted to bring my spinning wheel and some fibery things to play with during the summer, Emma has a few toys, Shaun has his bike and assorted training gear (running, swimming, biking: he's doing a triathlon in July). We did save some space by leaving the big litterbox at home and getting a smaller litter pan, and having the car-top carrier for the suitcases and non-fragile gear really made it possible to bring all our toys.

We're actually not supposed to have pets (cats or dogs) here at all, so we're being all illegal and sneaky-like. We did end up leaving Cobalt (our dog) at home, since she's too hard to hide, but we had to bring Naia (the cat) because our housesitter is allergic to cats. We're also not supposed to have anyone else but us live in the house in La Grande, according to our lease, so I guess this is our summer of sneakiness and rule-breaking.

I won't even go into all the feeling of guilt and abandonment that I feel about leaving Cobalt behind. She is doing much better, and has somewhat recovered from her troubles last spring, but she's still not her old self. I hope she doesn't have any more problems before we get home. I've never been away from her for this long, since we got her in 1994. And to abandon her when she's semi-ill.....I feel terrible. (Because she's more than a pet, she's a friend.)

Anyway, I'll move on to The Panda Cory Show. Season 2.5 started yesterday.

I had the four fry, and seven eggs that I found on June 1. When I was breaking down the tank for the move yesterday, I found seven more eggs on the java fern in the main tank. So I packed up the four big fry and the 14 eggs in their own cooler container, the adult fish in a separate one, and piled the fry tank and all the aquarium supplies in the empty tank. Tra la la, off we went to Friday Harbor. Eleven hours later, (7 1/2 hour drive (including breaks for lunch and dinner), 45 minute wait for the ferry, and 2 1/2 hour ferry ride- I love how the last 20 miles takes a third of the total trip time), we got to the island. First thing I did was to open the fish containers so they could get some air. When I opened the fry container, I saw this:



Every single egg hatched during the drive! I now have 18 panda cory fry! I'm pretty impressed by the toughness of this species. The adults recovered much faster from the trauma of the ride than the tetras did, and were actually mating about half an hour after I put them in the tank. The tetras were still looking a bit pale and stressed (different water, shock of travel, etc), and hiding under the driftwood, but the cories were, well, yeah...

It's amazing how much the older fry have grown. They are 20 days old today, and the difference between them and the day-old fry is huge.



I mean, yes, they are both pretty tiny, but what a difference three weeks makes! I put all 18 into the fry tank, and the younger ones immediately dove for cover. If I didn't know they were in there, I would have no idea. The older fry nosed around a bit, ate some of the flake food I put in, and took up their stations under the rocks and plants. The largest of the four big fry likes to hang out under the front of the rock with the java fern on it.



He seems to rest there a lot, in between trundling around the tank, sifting through the sand and looking for food particles. I just love these fish.

The scarf continues to grow. I worked on it for a couple hours last night, and am about a third of the way through the ball. I don't think it's going to be quite as long as I thought.



I'm loving the way the subtle stripes are forming.

The Panda Cory Show, day 16. The fry are now solidly 3/8" long, and have filled out a lot.



Even more exciting is this picture:



If you click to enlarge, you can see the start of real fins!! There are rays in the dorsal and tail fins, and distinct fin outlines beyond the outline of the finfold.

I started a scarf yesterday, in a lattice crochet pattern.



The yarn is the laceweight I spun from the roving from Liz, and the pattern is one I made up as I went along.



Surprisingly, I think this is the first time I have crocheted with my own handspun. I had to stop and think about that, but I think it's true. I have only ever knitted and woven with handspun. I'm liking the way this is working up, and I plan to crochet until I get to the end of the ball. Based on what I have so far, that should give a scarf that is approximately 8" x 70".

The Panda Cory Show is still going strong. I'm pleased to report that the remaining four fry are now 14 days old, two full weeks. This feels like a triumph, since the oldest one of the last batch only made it to 11 days. I hadn't seen all four at the same time recently, and usually I only see one at a time, but when I fed them last night, I saw all four at once! They are so cute, the way they hop around the tank and nibble at the food particles in the sand.



See that white blob behind his head? That's a full tummy! They have really gotten the hang of this eating thing. After I feed them microworms, their stomachs turn white like that, and after I feed crushed flakes, their stomachs turn orange.

I also added seven more eggs to the tank on Friday. They are looking pretty close to hatching, probably in the next day or so.


new eggs and 14 day old fry

The adults are still spawning every couple days, so maybe at some point I'll see a juvenile cory appear in the main tank as if from nowhere. If any survive the tetra gauntlet, that is. Those guys will eat anything that moves, if it fits in their mouths!

Of course, now that I've bragged about two-week-old fry, they will probably all die. This coming weekend is going to be stressful, in any case. We're going back up to Friday Harbor for the summer so Shaun can teach a class and do research, and the fish have to come along, since we're going to be gone for close to three months. I'm a bit apprehensive about this. The adults handled the move from FH to La Grande just fine last fall, but I'm afraid the fry won't make it.

Emma and I enjoyed our first ever strawberry harvest today.



They were delicious! They're so much (SO MUCH) better than grocery store strawberries, even if they are smaller. We have lots more coming, on the six plants on our patio, and the berries that formed later seem to be getting bigger.

Picking strawberries with my mom and sister at the local u-pick place, then processing them to freeze, is one of my favorite memories from growing up. The smell of those two berries we picked today, all warm from the sun, immediately transported me back to age 14.

Emma and I went on an excursion to Catherine Creek State Park yesterday afternoon. We had fun hiking a bit, splashing in the creek, and looking at the pebbles and various critters.



In addition to the water striders, which Emma found fascinating, we saw lots of Variable Checkerspots (New for my Life List! The ones I saw looked like the "chalcedon" form/subspecies/population/variety), and several of what I think are rainbow trout juveniles. Please correct me if I'm wrong!



Speaking of fish, The Panda Cory Show has a redecorated set.



On our way back this afternoon, I picked up a handful of coarse sand from Catherine Creek (not from inside the State Park, farther downstream in a field). I've been reading up online about raising cories, and one thing most sources say is that it's better to keep fry (and adults, for that matter) on some sort of substrate. Even with cleaning, bacteria, fungi, and other nasties can build up a film on the bottom of a bare tank that can erode the cory's barbels and pectoral fins, since they are bottom-dwellers and are basically resting on it constantly.

I was going to use the gravel I have in the main tank, but decided the grain size was too big and the little babies would get down in between the grains and risk getting crushed. So I added some sand. I didn't want really fine sand, because it's a pain to clean, but at the same time I wanted smooth grains because sharp sand is too abrasive. Catherine Creek is a fairly high energy stream, so the sand is well polished.



This was taken yesterday afternoon, when the babies were 10 days old. Can you find him? The fry are much harder to see now, but I think this will be better for them. They probably feel more secure on the dark substrate, as well. They are starting to get more pigmentation, and have the eye band just like the adults now.

I also put in another rock from the main tank. I lost two of the fry on Tuesday night, and I wanted to be sure the tank had enough good bacteria to keep it healthy, so I added another rock.