New Residents and Fall

We were sad to say goodbye to the hopping Worthington farmers' market a few weeks ago and now we are getting down to freezing temperatures. A few days ago, we pulled the last of the unripe tomatoes and the peppers to save them. We will be wrapping the tomatoes in newspaper to help them ripen, which will give us fresh tomatoes for some time to come. In addition, we had to drain the rain barrel, which was a complex issue with our little comet goldfishes inside. We drained it to about the halfway point and then tipped the barrel over and caught the fish as they shot out. If you recall, we started the season with 8 fish (7 Erics and a Bob) and we knew we had one fatality early on. Other than that, we were unsure of what was inside the barrel. We ended up with (drumroll please.....) three fish! It is not shocking because of the fluctuating environment of the barrel, but it was funny that there were no bodies. Out of all of them, we had a white one, a white and orange one, and an orange one. As you can see, they have now taken up residence in the house. I am notorious for killing fish (not on purpose of course), and it looks like these three hardy ones will still struggle inside. The cats have taken a keen interest in the fish bowls despite our best attempts to protect them. We also have already had to learn the important lesson that one bowl does not offer enough space and oxygen for three fish, so we had to divide them into two bowls. We thought about getting a big tank with fancy filters, but in the end, budgets are tight and there is only so much money we are willing to put into 3 fish that cost 30 cents a piece. So for now, they will have to be split up... They have also earned individual names since they survived this long. Orange is Bill, orange and white is Eric, and white is Sookie (can you tell we are True Blood fans?).