Date: 13 January 2019. Frog and the Red Tide.

© janice142
 

Soloist life aboard Seaweed can be interesting. One particular thing I enjoy is the variety that each new day brings. Today I might spend blitzing on new Kindle books, while tomorrow might find me in the bilges. I believe the mental stimulation is good for me. Sometimes though I'm a bit too stimulated. Here's what happened recently.
 

This tale started with a plant. For years I was convinced I could kill a plastic plant. Then I anchored in the crook between Saul Creek and the Jackson River. A tree had fallen into the water. With each tide I noticed a bit of a greenery being submerged. I wanted to save that greenery.
 

When I discovered my "green thumb" I was anchored here on ↓ SAUL CREEK.

I rescued this moss with a small twig of a tree growing out of it. Here's a picture:

The life I lead is exciting. I grow moss. The tree/twig
portion to the right of Santa's workshop did not survive.
 

As you can see, the moss grew and grew.

 

In front of my moss are several small containers with scallions. About every two months I buy a bunch of scallions. I use from the top, leaving the final one inch with roots intact. That piece I place in water, covering just the bottom 1/4 inch of the stalk. The scallion will grow again.
 

Scallion bunches are bought at the grocery store. I select the largest diameter I can find. That is because as the plant grows again, it becomes progressively skinnier. I can always get two crops out of each scallion stalk. Sometimes I third batch will grow too, but not usually.
 

Growing some of my own produce helps keep expenses down. Plus, it is fun to have some greenery around. Each morning I water the plants aboard Seaweed. That water is the run-off from rinsing my sprouts.
 

The goal is to utilize everything, and dispose of nothing that could be useful in another way. Sometimes that means simply donating an item to a thrift store. Everything serves a purpose, or it is off my boat ASAP!
 

This is my basil plant. For a while I grew basil. It is easy to grow.

Then I discovered I did not particularly care for the flavor of  basil. If you're
growing something to eat, make sure you like it first. I did not do that with the basil.
 

Side Note: Folks with limited water supplies do on occasion utilize the same water more than one purpose. In the morning I rinse my sprouts, pouring off the excess water into a plastic bowl. I then use that rinse water to hydrate the rest of the plants aboard Seaweed.
 

I believe the rinse water from my sprouts
to be more nutrient rich than plain tap water.
 

One day I felt SOMETHING ↓ jump across my hand as I was watering the moss.

Needless to say, I was surprised. Immediately I spotted the culprit on the silver Reflectix placed over the window.

I wondered where the frog came from. Then I spotted a HOLE ↑ under the moss.
 

While I like wildlife I prefer it to live outside, not in my boat. Additionally, I have a rather irrational fear of frogs. They give me the creeps. Having this one hop across my hand did nothing to enamor me to it. That frog had to go.

Though I am not fond of frogs I did not want to put it ashore where predators could get at it. Neither did I want the frog to live inside my home. Because the frog had disappeared shortly after the photos were taken I assumed it had returned to his home under the moss.

That is when I took the entire moss planter out into the cockpit. I was nervous AND determined to rid my pilothouse of the frog. Out back I have a basket with an aloe plant in it. The moss planter was placed inside the hanging basket.

My aloe basket is hanging on the port side under the cockpit overhang.

 

I set the moss container inside the aloe basket,
trusting the frog to move into the bigger digs.
 

A few hours later I moved the moss back inside. I never saw the frog again.

 

So if you wonder what I do each day, well, sometimes it is not very much at all. Meeting the frog threw me off for a bit. I still wonder how long that critter lived in my moss. There have been zero flies, moths or flying insects inside Seaweed for ages so I am not certain when *Ribbit arrived.
 

*Ribbit: For my foreign readers, "ribbit" is an American word used to mimic the sound a frog makes. It is similar to the deeper "croak" sound of a toad, though of a higher pitch.

I name critters that become a part of my world for a time. For the record, Ribbit never made a sound, though I may have squeaked when he hopped across my hand!
 

The most important thing is this: He is gone.

This comic ↑ can be found at http://SpeedBump.com - The artist is Dave Coverly.
Definitely explore his website. Look for his cartoon panel Speed Bump in newspapers.
 

Isis the snowy egret ↑ hangs out in the cockpit, near my aloe planter.

A couple days after Ribbit moved outside saw Isis poking at the aloe leaves. She had never paid attention to the plant previously. All this happened during the time of red tide/algae bloom. I suspect that rather than eating fish (there were none) or my hotdogs, Isis expanded her menu options.

I had been afraid of predators ashore and didn't even think about my birds as potential threats to Ribbit. Providing a frog to Isis had not been my plan. Sigh.

As an aside, mullet have returned to the canal. The red tide is gone from here.

Aboard Seaweed I have been busy writing. Thanks Karl for gifting me a Win7 netbook. It is very much appreciated. Win7 is what I need for the Front Page writing program I utilize. A netbook is ideal for me because it does not use a lot of power.
 

In any event, a new year means a lot
of tweaking to update stuff nobody sees.
 

And too, I love my Kindle. Between the Kindle and the tablet, I can spend hours reading, exploring, visiting Pinterest, viewing YouTube videos, and wandering around the internet.
 

Life is very good aboard Seaweed. I am truly blessed.
 

Happy boating to you, and thanks for reading.
 

Have you ever found a frog or other wildlife inside your home?
What did you do about the critter?
 

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