Welcome, my friends to the show that never ends. Old friends, new friends, makes no difference here. This is a discussion thread where we laugh together, cry together, keep up with the goings-on in our lives. It's a place where never is heard a discouraging word and the sunshine is always present in our hearts.
My name is Sylvain, aka The Polar Bear, also known as eiwamanamana. I'm a married, 60 year-old man, married 39 blissful years. I have a snake, a ball python named Lucy, whom both my wife and I cherish dearly. We also keep South-American cichlids in a 40-gallon aquarium. I love growing various aroids, desert roses, orchids and water lilies. I had a lotus but racoons pulled it out of the pond and ate it all. Down here, we garden outside year-round and we love it here for exactly that reason.
I am an expat from (Let's call it) Dave's Jardin, where life had simply become unbearable after their recent refurbishment, updates and other "improvements". They run their show the way they see fit and malcontents such as myself can just buzz off, as far as they seem to be concerned. So, I buzzed off.
I made homemade bagels today. They are overnighting in the refrigerator right now. I will bake them tomorrow morning. As I type this, I am dehydrating onion flakes and garlic flakes. The house smells heavenly. I'll boil the bagels in honeyed water tomorrow morning, seed and garnish them and bake them in time for breakfast with cream cheese and smoked salmon: the breakfast of kings.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that our cichlids had a clutch of about 50 babies swimming around yesterday. Cichlids are examplary parents, with the female and the male taking care of the babies and protecting them around the clock. The rest of the cichlids in the aquariums see those babies as ultra-fresh sushi with fins. Serious fights and chases ensue. There's always something happening in a cichlid aquarium.
Our snake (Lucy) seems to have started a hunger strike, as Lucy does every year just about this time of the year. The principle is easy: offer food and if it doesn't get eaten, throw it away. Lucy eats thawed little white mice. Yes, there are mice in my freezer. It's a surprise the first times you open the freezer, but you get used to them. Each one is individually wrapped in its own freezer bag and gets thawed 3 or 4 hours before feeding time. Lucy is an exquisite animal with gorgeous patterns of ebony, brass, silver and mother-of-pearl scales. We raised her like a baby and I often refer to her as The Baby. I also call myself The Daddy on occasion.
So, join in and say Hi. There's always a chair available for you to take a load off your feet. I hope this thread will be a happy and chatty place.
Take care, everyone.
Sylvain.
