The snails are on notice

From Singles 2009

All the snails. Inside and out.

I have had enough of my brave new seedlings being mowed over. From the 3 six-packs of petunias I purchased last month, only 4 plants remain. The zinnias are likewise decimated. And, those little blue flowers which I can't remember the name of - they are all the way gone to heaven. I stopped at the garden center on Thursday and perused the snail killing section - which to my dismay was very limited and all of it was toxic to Zelda and the marauding cats. I asked about getting copper or diatomacious earth - but was met with quizzical looks. I didn't think I had just hallucinated these options, so I looked for snail info online. They are there - as was a page from California instructing how to take snails from garden to plate.

Of course, I read that.

Then, last night, Kayla was good enough to take me home. It was raining and I had enticed her with the opportunity to gaze upon my sad, sad, sad aquarium. She says she's seen sadder - but then set me up with a plan. She thinks with some plant food that some of the plants will come back. One, in particular, she pointed out had good root structure. (I had to tell her that was the plastic plant.) She rescued my sinking heater and told me how to set the temperature. (I'm not sure why I thought that it was just something you plugged in and then adjusted the twisty-switch until the resulting tank temp was what you wanted. Dementia, maybe.) She taught me how my filter worked. (I bought it with the tank and without any sort of instruction/care guide.) But, first off, I have to buy some stuff to kill the snails in my tank.

They're getting a reprieve today, however. No time for buying snail-be-gone or beer. I'm still at work at 4:30 waiting for my shepherd to wake up after surgery...