nother week has officially begun (one might say Sunday is the start) and today I should have a lot of free time (after a visit to Town) in which to publish many detailed articles. 31 days from now it’ll be 15 years since I met Rianne. It’ll be a Thursday, so we’ll try to do something more special.

I am told that 15 years is a long time for a marriage.

It is more so true that 15 years is a very long time for a happy and healthy marriage, which isn’t the same thing.

few hours ago at the local Sunday Market a friend asked me, your wife buys you flowers??? I said, yes. Another friend was surprised by this (and the greeting card as well).

The lady said to me that many couples, after nearly 15 years, barely talk to one another. I explained to her that our relationship is a healthy one.

And yes, we both buy one another flowers and gifts, also many greeting cards.

Age means you get to know other people better, it does not mean boredom or resentment.

I know many couples aren’t like that (for one reason for another). But it’s totally feasible.

I get the feeling relationship between people were a lot stronger before computers.

t has gotten cold again (overnight) and Mr. Green came here with a sneeze. He was always a bit sick, but the eyes have mostly recovered (he was in an awful condition when he first came here; the kitchen became like a hospital or E.R. to him).

Now it seems like he’s sick with some cold, so I spent minutes bottle-feeding him while protecting him (with my palms) from other birds.

I think he can survive winter, but we need to monitor him closely. Based on his beak being a bit open sometimes, maybe he has some disability or something that causes him problems all the time. But that doesn’t mean he can’t or should not survive.

he windy/gusty day (and the storm that brought it) seems to have mostly passed. The winds have come almost to a halt. Tomorrow should be the same, so it’ll be a very long bicycle trip for me. I realise there are some routes I’ve not explored for more than half a decade and I could really use some outdoor exercise.

Before too long, trees will be without leaves and it’ll be too cold outside. Tomorrow it will be 16 degrees outside. Not cold, not damp.

November is very near. A week into November we have an anniversary to celebrate and before too long it’ll be Christmastime preparations, including all the decorations and festive music throughout the day.

I look forward to spring. The clock will change again, but it ought not.

oday it was time to clean the filter in my tank and belatedly refresh things. I found some dead shells, I think it might be related to parasites/germs rather than temperature (the temperature of the water isn’t low, it’s about 20 degrees) and the fish seem happy.

3 days ago it was 5 months since I set up a tank near me, splitting off or separating the shells from Rianne’s tank, which is for the tropical species.

Rianne’s tank has since then (again) begun to become a ‘breeding ground’ for more shells.

MOAR SHELLS, OMG!

That’s fine, as I can pass them all over to mine when winter is over.

Last week I brought the tank closer to my keyboard and installed better lighting/bulb for it (the ultraviolet one had died after years of persistent use).

I’m taking it “easy” this month as we transition into “proper” autumn and weather has worsened. I still managed to sunbathe almost 10 times so far this month. Sunlight in moderation is healthy.

Colder, darker days ahead until 2 months from now (December 20/21).

HIS weekend I published the seventh part of a series, a long series (lots more to come) which concerns swatting in the UK. Here are all the parts published thus far:

The more ‘beefy’ details will come later this week. I’m glad that the time has come to share this information. We have strong momentum because the public can nowadays see what really happened and who the culprits are (they’re connected).

he number of birds we look after more closely (and give names to) has grown from 4 to about 7. One of them was sick and is recovering and two of them are babies/children. Durian has grown a lot though and yesterday he only came (for the first time) at around 5PM. The green-eyed bird decided it was confident enough to stand on my palm while it eats (same as Bot and Durian). Thankfully we have a lot of sanitiser left (litres of it) and hand-washing is routine.

Growing up in homes with dogs, getting accustomed to fish tanks and birds (and a storage room full of seeds) is an adjustment. Having a dog at this time would be challenging because sometimes we both leave for several hours; we do plan to have dogs when we get older. When at least one human is at home the dog (or dogs) won’t feel lonely or sabotage furniture out of boredom/protest.

There are many birds out there (even as far as Mayfield) that recognise us from a distance based on the face or gait. They are good at spotting cycles of behaviour.

he “tropical mode” in the fish tank is now activated. Overnight, there was a lingering concern about the safety of the heater, so we turned it off and decided to wait a while. Just to be on the safe side.

Basically, it seemed like something may have been cracked and the thermostat, moreover, kicked in to deactivate the heater a lot sooner than anticipated.

After 3 test runs it’s finally off to a warm start. It seems visible or visibly obvious that the fish all seem happy (all species), they are accustomed to warm water and given the weather changes this is no longer possible without some electricity.

Last night, at 10PM, moving all the tropical fish to the same tank was feasible and could be done with minimal stress to the fish, maybe a maximum of 5-7 seconds inside the net.

Fingers crossed.

If all goes well, we’ll just look forward to springtime, then remove the heater and store it away, safely.

oday it’s time to heat up the fish tanks, as it has been getting cold lately, especially overnight, and it’ll be getting colder in weeks to come. Some fish cannot tolerate room temperature in October. Since we’re one heater short we’ll need to separate tropical ones from cold water ones.

The task isn’t hard, as no water change is needed, but catching the fish (to transfer) can traumatise them somewhat. We have no other choice.

Other than that, I’ve managed to finish Daily Links by 9AM. I think that’s the first time ever. This will free up time for other tasks.

oday Peanut entered the room. Edwin did the same some weeks ago. They seem to have found the confidence needed to walk around me and search for food, maybe also warmth and companionship.

This afternoon Peanut found the courage to sit on the doorknob. By the evening Peanut also stayed there to bottle-feed. Before it became dark I managed to feed Peanut and Durian from the same jar at the same time. They began to argue and howl.

The progress with Peanut and Durian is fast. They grew up with us. If they live for 20 years to come, we’ll be in our 60s.

Peanut has just begun making bird noises like Durian.

Birds raised (and fed) by humans do not act like wild birds.

I wished we had began birding decades earlier.