You say hello and I say goodbye

The fish tank is getting a new home today. We promised John's brother, Ben, that he could have it when we got a new one because we knew we'd be upgrading to saltwater.

This fish tank has sure put up with a lot from us, two moves while it was full, Sophi jumping on top to walk to her cat tree (cause walking on the ground is for common folk), the dogs jumping on the glass chasing the fish and many deaths and new comers of fish.

The fish we've had the longest is a Pictus Catfish

John bought him when we were down at Snow and had a 10 gallon tank, so he's been with us for 4 years and he's about 8 inches long.
I wont be missing him too much though. He's a hider (which the pet store people tell us that he shouldn't be) and vibrates/hums when he gets really pissed off. It really freaks me out!
When we moved him from John's 10 gallon to our 55 gallon we tried catching him in a plastic bag (you cant catch them in nets because they're spiny fins get stuck in the nets) he was humming up a storm. He poked his fins through the bag, drained all his water and had me screaming, "JOHN! JOHN! JOHN!!!!!" (even though John was standing in the room holding the bag) and jumping up and down like I just won Miss USA. John shoved the bag into my hands and I had to hold the humming/vibrating pissed off little guy while John grabbed some tupperware.
Getting him out of the bag was a challenge since he thrashed around getting himself more tangled and stress. John worked for a good few minutes getting him untrapped and into the tupperware and I really thought he wasn't going to last through the night.
The next time we moved we were smart and caught him with a glass jar. Less stress, less humming and no screaming.

One little fish I will be missing is our female Bristlenose Plecostomus

You may think she's ugly, but I think she's so ugly that she's cute.
My mom has always had a pleco in her fish tank and the common ones can get really big, some up to two feet! I think hers was always pushing 12 inches.
John thought they were hideous, but they're really good for the tank since they suck off the algae and are a good clean up crew.
I searched for this one special since I didn't want one that got too big so it meant going to a special fish store (petsmart only carries the common ones).
She's should only get up to 8 inches, but right now she's tiny, only about 3 inches. She must be a slow grower because we've had her for 2 1/2 years now. When I first got her I'd say she was less than an inch and I snuck her into the tank so John wouldn't know I bought one. :)

One guy I wont be missing at all is a new addition to the tank, a Banded Leporinus.

I bought two of them a few months ago on a whim, not knowing anything about them, just liking them for their adult size(12 inches) and coloring.
Supposedly they're peaceful and do well with community fish but one of them is a huge butthead. He's chewed up the two angels fins and chases the other tank mates. I told Ben he could keep him if he wants but I'd sell him back to the pet store ASAP!

Other tank mates that will be moving to their new home are:
Two angels (had 5 but 3 died from old age)
3 black skirt tetras
3 tiger barbs
5 hatchet fish

It'll be really weird having it gone and not hearing the quiet sound of running water and bubbles for the next few months. But John is eager to get it out so he can install the toe kick for the cabinets (he already has them all built, he's so excited :))and get the plumbing and electrical out of the way. I was way wrong when I thought this would be an over a year project!

spring fever

Yesterday was too gorgeous of a day to stay inside and clean the Mouth of Hell aka my kitchen, so the pups and I went off the Tanner Park/Parley's trail. It was the first time I went alone with the dogs, not that they're hard to control alone because they're not, it's just that I forget that I can go by myself. :)

While in the car Makoa was SOOO excited! He kept talking to me and whining, when we turned onto the road that leads up to Tanner they went nuts!

Some in the car pictures, dont worry they were all taken at red lights.

Makoa found a beagle that he loved and they chased each other for the first part of our hike, then him and Enna explored all the bushes and trails.



If you look really closely in this picture you'll see Enna's head as she comes out of the bush.

I heart off leash areas and trails and you can tell that my pups do too!
Just look at the smile!

On a side note, Makoa is really worming his way into my heart. For a long time all of his behavioral issues were really putting a damper on our relationship and I just wasn't really fond of him. For the last few months I've been working with him and his personality and trying to understand why he does what he does.
When we first started doing off leash with him he was so easy to get back on leash but then out of the blue he changed and it was a nightmare getting him back on. The minute the leash came out he'd dart away and wouldn't come within arms reach no matter what. Nothing worked, treats, praise, nothing. We'd either have to wait until he forgot that we were trying to get him or just walk him back to the car without him on his leash and risk getting a ticket for not obeying leash laws. It was getting so bad that I always thought twice about bringing him with.

So the last few times I've been trying a new tactic. I learned that if he is pet throughout the hike he doesn't think that every time he is touched it's time to go home and I hang the leash around my neck so that he sees it the whole time we are out.
Now from start to finish with our walk I'll call him back to me and give him some scratches and a lot of praise and I haven't had one bit of trouble getting him back on...now that I've said that I've jinxed myself and it will be a nightmare again. Cross your fingers that he'll stay good! I really am starting to love that little guy and enjoying his company.

wordless wednesday

spring hike

On Sunday Dana invited me and the dogs on a hike with her and her friend, Jamie and crazy, old me, I agreed!
I didn't think that it would be that strenuous since we were going above Memory Grove and I've been up Memory, piece of cake. I thought wrong, Jamie took us up a trail in City Creek Canyon that I've never been on and it sure wasn't the easiest hike ever. Truthfully it wasn't that bad, I'm just way out of shape and it's all up hill. Luckily one of us is smart, Dana brought us water bottles and fruit bars to eat.

When Dana and I met up with Jamie at Memory Jamie looked down at Enna and asked, "You sure she'll make it?" Looking down at Enna I said, "Oh yeah, no problem at all! Enna's an ox!"
So the 3 of us with our 5 dogs headed up the park letting the dogs off leash in the off leash area. Once we hit the actual trail above Memory Grove Jamie got farther and farther ahead of us :) Dana and I would yell to Jamie that we were stopping to rest and she'd turn around smiling at us. We hiked for about 1 1/2 hours and didn't make it to the end, we just couldn't go any further so we turned around to head home. Once we hit Memory Grove Makoa was getting tired, I can tell because that's when he hangs out by my legs instead of off in front with all the dogs. Little Nenners was still going strong though and keeping up with the big dogs.

After 3 hours of hiking Dana and I were starving so we grabbed some lasagna from Pizza Hut and headed to her place to watch Hachi. The dogs crashed once we got to Dana's place and slept peacefully through the movie. After a tearful couple of hours I was headed home for the night.

Now my whole body hurts this morning and my feet have a few blisters but it was a great hike! I'm going to make my dad come with me next time I go (hear that Pop Pop?) and anyone else that wants to tag along is more than welcome to come, but this time we're going to the end!
Sorry there are no pictures, I was trying not to die while I kept up with Jamie!

It can rain now

We put new rain gutters on the front of our house today. It really wasn't that hard of a job.
John stood on the roof pulling off the old ones, I stood on the ladder holding the old ones so they wouldn't come crashing to the ground and then I walked them down the ladder and set them on the ground (I also searched the garden beds for all the nails that were dropped).
Then I clipped on the brackets on the new white vinyl gutters, carried them up the ladder and held them while John screwed the brackets into the house.
In a few hours we were done and proudly looking at our hard work.
The before with the old, brown, leaky gutters

The after with the new white gutters

This summer we'll paint the trim on the house white so it will all match.
Not too shabby for a few hours of work.

toasty

One thing I'll miss with the weather trying to warm up is my fireplace. In the winter we use it almost daily, I love the smell of burning wood and the cozy feeling it brings.

Only a few more uses until its time to call a chimney sweep and have it cleaned out for the summer.
Doesn't mean I want winter to stay though...

Gone to the birds

I'm told these ducks are frequent visitors to where I work. I watched them waddle around all morning, jumping on the picnic tables, pecking at the windows and laying in the grass.
I cant wait until their little babies start following them around!