Meet the newest member of our family

Her name is Carrot!  she was acquired approximately 24 hours after the demise of her predecessor following a brief period of grieving.

Honestly there was some grieving...

We were pottering around on Saturday night after the kids had gone to bed and D says "Um should Pinky be 'resting' on the bottom of the bowl?"  We decided NOT but also decided to give the kids a life lesson and let them find her the following morning - which they did!  There were real tears and after we explained the normal life expectancy of a gold fish was less than the 2 years that we had actually had her for they seemed to cheer up... until D suggested flushing her down the toilet - the rubbish bin is a much more appropriate resting place for an ex loyal family pet after all.

An afternoon visit to the pet store was scheduled and we returned home with the chosen one (and a sausage and some bits from Bunno's).

It was a cold day in Melbourne so I left the bag floating in the fish bowl for a while to let her acclimatise.  About an hour later I returned and she looked a little more subdued than the mad dashing around fish she had been for the last hour.  Perhaps I should have read the instructions on the bag that state only 5 minutes maximum is required and not the hour I had left her for.

Thinking I was about to call on the 14 day guarantee that the pet shop offer and not fessing up about the oxygen deprivation I started explaining that some fish just don't like each other and that perhaps the widower Speedy might have to remain that way for a while.

So here we are a day later and she has perked up so much that I am now confident in posting about her.