Fishtank

Ive lost my flipping Apisstogramma Agassizi Cichlid.
Clearly not the right conditions despite my efforts.
Oh well, will try something else more hardy..
The shrimps are loving it though and are getting big :-)

Garden Progress

Got x2 more Clematis in their pots by the front door now.
"Inspiration" and "Hagley Hybrid"
They seem to be growing nicely in the South facing sun.
Also got Hannah's hanging baskets up. They are crammed with some awesome color which should be flowering soon!


Also out front is a cracking deep purple Magnolia tree in a pot rescued from my parents front garden. They aren't agile enough to look after it, so we took it home (thats one heavy pot!), weeded it out, and cleaned it up. Now it sits out the front looking great. :-)
Not sure if its a M. 'Galaxy', M 'Susan', or some other one, still trying to find out...


Found and fell in love with a Black enamelled square pot for just £10 on sale (rrp£40). It looks ace, so I got some 'Senetti' in it for maximum contrast.


Hannah's Tulips are flowering now, and they look like raspberry ripple Ice cream :-)
(although I have to keep spraying them to keep the damn greenfly off)


Lastly, I also got a water tap fitted in the back wall from the kitchen, so now watering and cleaning is far easier and more convenient.

More Clematis

Hannah came home from work a couple days ago with a present for me.
A Clematis she knew I liked that flowers right in Winter.
The wonderful C. Cirrhosa 'Freckles'.
She found it for just a couple quid :-)
Still working out the best spot for him though.


She also found a couple others for the same price, which have now gone into pots...
Polish Spirit


and Hagley Hybrid.


I now have a total of Ten Clematis dotted about.
Spring, Summer and indeed Autumn AND Winter should be colorful!

Garden Birds

Had some more variety on the bird feeder.
Ive seen x2 goldfinches whizzing about in the trees out back, which was great, as I love these colorful little guys....



....and I managed to get some pics of a pair of Greenfinches on my feeder :-)

Tank update

I finally got the Dwarf cichlid I was after, but cant find any females for him yet.


Also got x4 Cherry shrimp that appear to be doing well.
They have shed their skins several times, and certainly seem to be getting larger. They are always wandering about or sat on leaves or stones grazing.


Also added x3 black tetra,


and 3 Glowlight tetra,


both of which really contrast with the gold and white cloud minnows.

Clematis planted

Got another Clematis planted up late last night and one today, both in containers.
One has a wigwam and the other the whole of the balcony railings to cling to.

The president.


Arabella.

New Clematis

Picked up 3 new Clematis today at a bargain price, so couldn't resist.

Multi Blue

Arabella

Montana

Worm Crisis

Had a major die off in my wormery.
Ive followed every instruction to the letter, but for some reason, about 75% of my worms have dived down into the sump and committed wormy suicide.
Contacted the wormery people, and they have been very helpful with advice.
I'll have to see if it recovers, or start again :-(

I wish I could find out why they died off. If it was the weather, then surely lots people would have had the same thing, and besides, I had mine wrapped in bubble wrap over the icy week we had.
It must have been something I put in, but I followed the list so very carefully.
Maybe Ill never know.
Very annoying....