Pet Potato: Day 65

Earlier in the week, I'd removed Pet Potato from his water bath and left him sitting happily on the windowsill, looking out into the great big world. So you can imagine my horror on Friday (Day 65) when I went to check on him: Pet Potato had been invaded by alien fungi!!!!

I took him out to the garden for a better look. Poor Pet Potato. He was squishy and oozing some foul-smelling brown-black liquid. It was a miserable moment, standing there in the garden, knowing the whole while that I had to dispose of Pet Potato.

I took several snapshots of Pet Potato, and watched as he posed and pondered upon what should have been his rightful place in our garden. And just when I was about to toss him out into the Giant Vegie Patch beyond, I realized I couldn't; not just yet, and especially not when there was still a chance that Pet Potato could be rescued.

A frenzy of activity ensued: the Great Potato Rescue was under way! I dug about for all the tools and items I would need. I was swift, I was ruthless, I was efficient. By the end of it, I had removed the parts of Pet Potato that had been contaminated with the alien fungi. What was left was a smaller, but very healthy-looking, version of Pet Potato. I looked for the prettiest porcelain pot I could find, picked out some stones, and aerated some earth. Filled the bottom of the pot with the stones, carefully poured in the earth, and snugly tucked Pet Potato into his new home.

And this is where Pet Potato is to this day (I'm typing and posting this on Day 68), sitting outdoors where I can conveniently keep watch over him, sunning him by day and watering him by night. The only downer to this whole thing is having to touch that moist earth. Moist earth means earthworms, and there were some (three thin ones to be exact) at the bottom of the pot when I went to check on Pet Potato this noon. Supremely grossed out. *shudder wiggle squirm*