I drove up to Monmouth Feed Co. because they advertised a big sale on pond supplies, and it’s time to start thinking of covering the pond to keep falling leaves out, and giving the fish some protection for the winter. I also needed some more filter media, and just wanted to check the place out. I was very impressed with the prices and the knowledge of the people there, and ended up going with a Pond Palace instead of a heater for winterizing. The initial cost is higher than a floating heater, but it costs less to run, and had a few other advantages. It’s essentially a plastic shelter with fixed louvered sides for circulation of air and water, and a solid top, which I used for a couple of plants – the cattail, zebra grass, and parrot feather fit quite nicely. Around the outside, you snap in a bubbler hose, which connects via a tube to an outside air pump. This provides shelter for the fish from predators, not only because of the plastic top, but also because the bubbles make it harder for birds and such to see them. In addition, it aerates the pond, which helps keep the water cleaner, and provides water movement, which prevents mosquitos from laying eggs. Unlike water circulation, which is bad for fish in winter because it brings the cold surface water down to the bottom, it’s blowing air – keeping the surface from freezing without making the entire pond deadly cold. I’m looking at it and thinking that maybe I should have gotten a weaker pump, but it was a package. The little fish seem to be having a good time with it, though.

After getting all filthy climbing around in the pond, then washing up, then folding laundry and catching up with Project Runway, I’d gone way past the time I was supposed to start cooking dinner, so we drove up to Brick to check out Ikko, which was recommended to me as a good Japanese restaurant. Well, it was OK. I mean, the food was decent, but not up to the quality we’re used to.

Then hubby and I watched “Sin City”. . .it was JUST LIKE watching a moving graphic novel. A grisly graphic novel. With characters that get shot and stabbed and hit by cars, and never stop talking. I learned two things – a movie can be visually interesting, maybe even innovative, and still not really engage you, and second, if it’s not engaging you and you’ve played around enough with image editing, you start thinking “wow, they didn’t grayscale this, they just desaturated, I can tell by the greens and pinks in the highlights” instead of paying attention to the movie.