Easy as fishing in a barrel

Where did all of my fish go? It is a mystery. Normally when fish die they float to the top of the pond. We recently drained our pond so that I could clean it. I started with 9 big gold fish. When we drained the pond I could only find 5. Hm, where did they go? So I took the 5 remaining fish and put them in our rain barrel while I cleaned the pond. Well, a few days later I am feeding the fish and low and behold there are only 2 in the barrel, none floating on top. Hm, what is going on? At first I thought that it must be a cat, but I can't imagine a cat getting in this deep barrel. We no longer have an outside dog and we are blessed with lots of critters now. We put a screen over the top of the barrel to try to keep the other fish from disappearing and so far it is working. I told the pool man about my disappearing fish and he said "raccoon". Then he tried to sell me a $700. German Sheperd for $200. I said, "no thanks".One of the bad things about not working is that you have to look at your house and all that needs to be done around it. I have never enjoyed planting anything or working in the yard. But now I don't have any excuse for my dull yard. So, today I bought new planters and a few plants and actually got my hands dirty to at least start making my house look like someone lives here. On a side note, even as a child I never liked playing in dirt! Here is my contribution for the day...

The pool and screen room are ready for summer! I bought a new solar cover that is supposed to heat the pool faster. The old one worked good, but this one is supposed to be better. It cost more anyway :)..... I bought floats yesterday, so we are good to go. The pool man is coming tomorrow to clean the concrete.

We love the screen room and play cards out there about every night BUG FREE!! So, tomorrow I am off to Benham to get the parents and bring them over here for as long as they will stay...they usually are ready to go home before we even get here.