Tag: Welcome To The Zoo

Maybe he should charge admission

       Hey.. you know, with college on the horizon and all… every little bit helps!

   Seriously, the kid has turned his room into a mini aquarium. There should be a sign above the door reading Mystic Aquarium South. The hushed gurgle of bubbling, filtered water with that added touch of humidity in the air is either soothing or disconcerting, depending on which way you go with that.  He loves it.  Lets not forget the volcano in the goldfish tank, a veritable bubble and light show, a night light of the coolest sort! Hopefully the goldfish agree.

    So, we started with Goldie. Then Goldie needed a tank and a friend.  Then Goldie & Company needed a bigger tank.  And then a bigger one.  Goldfish are cool, but they’re kinda boring according to the kid.  And so another, larger tank was assembled…. a semi aggressive tropical community tank.
  
    Two days ago  he brought home a homeless red eared slider turtle. We’ve improved its living conditions some, and eventually it will need a bigger tank. 

He assures me the “aquarium” is now complete. 
Are you ready for a tour?
Iphone pics, excuse the poor quality.

New and improved goldfish tank…
This is an orange and white Fan goldfish…

and this below is Goldie… who has tripled in size since arriving two years ago.
He is what they call a Comet, or feeder fish.. because they are most often used
as feeders for other fish-eating fish, turtles, snakes, etc…

We have some cool archeology and a map of New York behind this tank…

This is a new addition to the goldfish tank, a fancy comet..
meaning he has longer fins than Goldie.

A Calico Fan…

…a clam!!  It opens about an 8th of an inch and feeds off the filtered water that gets through
it’s slight opening.

and this is Nemo.. I rescued him from a feeder tank about a week ago..
what a cute little face, couldn’t resist.  for 15 cents, he was a bargain.

 

Lets move on to the Semi Aggressive Community Tank

      Here you will find sailfin sunset mollies, large neon tetra, a pleco, algae eaters, rainbow somethings,
Silver dollars, and the beautiful and exotic African butterfly fish, which is fed crickets as a supplement
to the flaked food. Live crickets, eaten with lightening speed. 
The butterfly fish has a prehistoric look, don’t ya think?
His “wings” are beautiful from above.
He glides gracefully along the top of the tank…
and grabs his prey with lightening speed.

That concludes the Mystic South Tour…watch your step as you come down
the staircase and into the kitchen… where you can stop to pick up a fresh
baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, recipe courtesy Hilary Clinton
  and view my Betta collection in the corner.
Remember the fish College girl brought home from dorm
because it was being neglected by it’s owner?
On the left, he is looking great.
I’ve had Ruby for years… he’s showing his age here…
New kid on the block…. just because.
(note to self:  stay away from PETCO betta display.)

 Have a great weekend, all – we’re waiting on some more crappy weather, however it’s not supposed to be snow.  Sounds good to me.

Home for wayward turtles

  It all started with Goldie, the homeless Goldfish.  Story Here.  Goldie lived for a while quite happily in a five gallon tank with a buddy and an algae eater in my sons bedroom.  Then one evening there was some sneaky activity involving a couple of teenage boys and some slithering up and down the back stairs while we ‘rents were otherwise occupied.  Suddenly there was a 55 gallon aquarium on the desk once used for homework (*ahem) and Goldie and friends got a slightly bigger tank. 

  Last night there was once again the pitter patter of sneaky feet up the back stairway while we were busy in the kitchen.   All were called down for dinner and there was definitely an air of smirkitude amongst the boyz. 

DAD:  What are you doing upstairs, I hear the backstairs footsteps, you’re not fooling me.
SON:   What?  OH.  It’s just your birthday present, really!  DON’T GO UPSTAIRS AND LOOK!!!

yeah, ok. I’ve got a bridge to sell you too….  

Apparently, while visiting the local pet store to get more aquarium supplies, he happened to admire the turtles.  The ever-helpful sales associate said   “you want one of those?  I’ve got one in the back that just got dumped here, the owner didn’t want him anymore.  I can’t legally sell him or his tank and equipment… you can have the whole thing for $10.!!”

You know what he did, right?    Because he’s MY SON, right?

 The newly adopted Turtle is a red-eared Slider.  They are the most common of pet turtles and are fairly easy to care for.  This one has been neglected. He had very long nails which I had to trim with a nail clipper (yes, I did).  He is the size of a small dinner plate and has outgrown his tank.  Probably why the owner was done with him.  Today I am going to find smaller rock formations out under the frozen tundra and give him more swimming room. Someday he will have to move from this tank, but we’re not going there right now!  
Turtles are more observant than you might think.  He follows us around the room with his
eyes and begs for food too.   My son is thrilled, and so far he is taking very good care of
all his tanks.

  

Yes, I said ALL his tanks.  Because he now has a mini aquarium upstairs…
more on that tomorrow.
OH, and… Happy birthday DAD. 

     

I am woman, hear me roar!

  The boys left early this morning to get more snow removal accomplished… our parents are still not plowed out.  Neither are some of the many roads in this area, and I-95 was still unplowed as of last night, hard to believe.   That left me staring wistfully at the snowbound gator up at the barn this morning.. my much-needed manure removal system.   I said .. self?  Suck it up.  Get the snow shovel and git er dun.   I want you to say that just as I typed it, with emphasis   🙂

So, I shoveled out the gator, only to shovel sh-t.
The great news here is… the girlchild showed up right about this time
and shoveled the sh-t for me. 

White, but with SUN!

  You can see the difference between this morning (earlier post) and this afternoon – the storm has let up and blown away. I suspect we’ll be cleaning it up for days to come though.  No one allowed on the roads but emergency vehicles and plows…  Looks like we ended up with 36 inches in flat areas and four foot snowdrifts where the wind kicked in.   

 Has a chicken coop ever looked more beautiful, I ask you?


The boyz got the bulldozer from the back shed and managed to remove
enough so we can get around and feed the critters, etc… 

K and I gave Opie and Max some OUT time
(this is boarder Max, not K’s horse Max, who I’m sure is stuck inside for the day)



yours truly…. pass the Advil.

Coady can smell horse cookies miles away…
I feel sorry for my guys, who will be out in this all day… now that they’ve
gotten us cleared out enough, they’ve headed off to other jobs and family too…
All I can do is keep the fire going and have plenty of food on hand.
The fire chief may or may not have stopped by today after a certain someone
caused a little grease to burn after cooking cheeseburgers, tripping the alarm.
That certain someone DID give the correct password when the alarm company called.
However, a certain OTHER someone changed the password
recently and so the alarm company didn’t believe I was who I said I was and sent
the Chief our way despite my protests.  *sigh*
I did offer him a cheeseburger.
It is what it is.

Nemo ain’t no clown fish

…more like a shark.
We haven’t gotten hit with the worst of it yet,
might as well have a little fun.
My southern rescue dog absolutely loves the snow
Big Ben.. not so much….
We’re trying to convince him he really does need to go NOW
before the snow gets too deep.

Chicken cacciatore on the stove,
boys should be home from plowing soon for the night…
Tomorrow, we’ll see what we’ve got.

Way Cool

We’ve got our own personal volcano here at this old house….
in my son’s goldfish tank, of all places.
How cool is THAT!!.. never saw one of these before..
you can’t really tell by the picture (iphone)
but it’s all tiny little bubbles lit up like fire.
Pretty cool night light too –


Practice

 I’ve got to hand it to my daughter …. she is one dedicated horsewoman.  I love my horses, I do.  And I get out there and do what I have to for their well being – feed, clean, clothe, etc.  But when it comes to these cold winter days, my horse gets a big fat vacation from anything that resembles work… because I don’t ride in this kind of weather, nope, not doing it.

 I took these pictures around 8:30 this morning and it was gawd -awful  cold.   Max and K have been practicing for  the approaching show season and some of these classes are new to K… showmanship, horsemanship, trail.    While 17 year old Max knows most of the ropes, K is still learning.  Sometimes Max takes advantage of the newby and says… ” what? huh?… you want me to do… what?  I can’t HEEEEEEAR yoooooou….la la la la la la ….)    Horses are not as stupid as some people might have you believe.  K has learned how to answer that little “duh”  gimick and now Max might try it now and then, but he quickly realizes it doesn’t work and gets right down to business.

Fearless leader Heidi
There were others in the lesson, but I didn’t want to invade their privacy.
Still handsome after all these years…
We went shopping last weekend with Christmas money
for a show outfit for K.
Great time of year to do it – buy one get one free, 30 percent off, etc. etc.
The boots are now zip-up-the-back-of-the-calf.
BIG change from years ago.. when we had to hop up and down,
swear worse than truckers (no offense, truckers..i happen to like to swear)
and pour baby powder down the boot to get the dang things on.

The Age of Aquariums

 Fish tanks are nothing new around here. The Mr. has a big Cychlid tank at his office and I’ve got my Betta tank.  Junior has for the past year had a five gallon with a goldfish he rescued from the parking lot of the Guilford Fair. He watched as a family disgarded their prize goldfish in a baggie..left it right on the ground in a leaking bag!  He scooped it up and put it in his soda cup and brought it home.  I bought it a friend, and they’ve been living together happily with the hulk every since.

A few days ago, Junior and a few of his friends were spending alot of time at the Petstore. When I inquired, I was told… “L is getting more fish, we’re just checking it all out for his tank”.
Ok then.
Another trip to the pet store.
And another.
Then, on a quiet football and Sunday Sauce sunday,
there was the sudden pitter patter of three sets of teenage feet
up and down the front hall stairs,
and back and forth from the garage.
There may have been a bucket and hose involved.
“They’re up to something”, says the Mr.
although he was not leaving the football screen to check it out. 
It is sitting on his desk, the one he is supposed to do homework on.
55 gallons!???
“BUT.. it was on sale for an unbelievable price, Mom!
And I PAID FOR IT!
And I will TAKE CARE of it!  PROMISE!”
Husband looks at me and rolls his eyes..
 and quips with the sarcasm he has mastered,..
“He’s just like his mother“.
As if that were a bad thing.  🙂
Very cool, very mobile snail…
African butterfly, which is not as aggressive as they claim.
He kinda just wants to be left alone at the surface of the tank.
The others oblige.
Sunset mollies…
Silver Dollars…
He and two of his friends now have rather large tanks in their rooms.
One is kind of an expert, their house has atleast six salt water tanks.
The way I see it?
A couple of 16 year olds are showing interest in taking care of living things,
learning how to be responsible for something,
and they’ve earned their own money to pay for it.
It’s all good.