End of the Year Part 3

I almost forgot about the guppies! We set up a 10 gallon breeding tank for our guppies. We keep our showy males in the community tank and the female(s) here. The males get, er, conjugal visits.

We started with 2 females, but lost one in a tank disaster (filter got disconnected and the ammonia spiked).

We have also lost a number of the males, although we haven't been able to figure out what went wrong. The water readings have been perfect. We dosed the tank with fish antibiotic, so we'll see...

Interestingly, I met a more experienced fishkeeper at our local fish store and when I asked why my males had died, he told me the following: (It helps to picture him, he looks like a senior member of a biker gang) "Ya know, with guppies, they're either gonna make it, or they're not. Don't worry about it. I had a friend who kept guppies in his toilet tank for 8 months. No kidding! He had a small apartment and he put screening over the hole so the fish didn't get flushed, ya know. They had babies and did just fine. How's that for water quality? Didn't worry about filtering or chlorine or nuthin - but he sure did frequent water changes!"


Our dear friend Fr. Mark arrived back for the summer! We had a little party, naturally! He is from New Orleans, and is the epitome of southern manners. I knew we would be great friends when, the first time we had him over (3 or 4 years ago), he patiently listened to Zorg for 20 solid minutes, then apologized for not understanding all of it (Zorg was 5 and had a speech impediment).

This time around, after the kids had taken him on a whirlwind tour of their rooms, art projects and lego creations (and explained the Bionicle universe), he sat down with a bemused expression and said, "It's like I never left except they're all taller!"


In other news, thanks to the kindness of a lovely lady, we got to visit a horse farm, and everyone got to ride!

That's Mxyl on Hawk.

The gentleman leading the horse also showed some fantastic riding - no saddle or bridle, just riding! I've never seen anything like it, it was lovely to watch.




And Klenda, also on Hawk. It was the first time she had ever been on an actual horse instead of a pony!




Zorg and Leena got to ride on Pumpkin Pie.