Plumbing problems....

John decided to buy a hose reel to attach to the deck to make it easier for me to water plants in that area of the yard. Of course that means he had to run water pipes to it which meant digging a ditch for the PVC pipes. Wouldn't you just know that he'd run into a root which he had to cut through, and who would know that under the root were more PVC pipes for the lawn irrigation system. Oops...... Now the poor guy is spending his evening trying to fix the pipes with the sun setting and the mosquitoes moving in. Of course, all this would happen just before he's supposed to go into the hospital for foot surgery tomorrow morning. Talk about putting pressure on a guy. All because he was trying to do a nice thing for me. Guess I'll take him a nice cold beer.

Oh, just found out that the bottom PVC held the electrical line going to the deck. Of course when he cut through that PVC pipe he fried his PVC cutter as sparks flew. Good thing that Lowe's Hardware store is just a mile from the house. They love us there. This calls for another beer.

New Fish Tank....

The volcano is really cool and the cichlid likes resting in the cave.We named the cichlid Tigger...

Goldie likes the new tank a lot better than his bowl.Yesterday, John and I purchased a 75 gallon aquarium from an ad on Craig's List. The owner sold the aquarium complete with tank, nice cabinet stand, Rena filter, gravel, decorations and even a Cichlid fish of some sort. We went to Petco and purchased a variety of small fish, tetras, mollies, catfish, etc. I even put our only Fantail Gold Fish in with the group. We really like the bubbling volcano. There are some pebbles scattered around that glow in the dark which is kinda cool. We put it in the living room where I could just sit and watch the fish for hours. I especially like the little Neon Tetras. I'm heading back to Petsmart tomorrow to get a few more.

Fun at the lake....

Reno loves jumping into the water from the back of "The Minnow"He would swim to Haley to be held until he was off again...
Haley loves tubing!!!!!

Haley and Reno spent the day at the lake today. John pulled Haley behind the boat on a tube. She had a great time and was able to catch some "air" going over the wake. Reno didn't want to stay on the tube for a ride so he swam back to the Minnow for some fun jumping into the water. He's such a silly dog. He will play and swim in the water for hours if we let him.

African Iris in bloom....

I was surprised today to see my purple African Iris just bursting with blooms. This bloom stalk was hidden behind a palm leaf and I hadn't even seen the buds so what a surprise to see all those blooms peaking out. I also just love the purple color along with the tiger stripes and leopard spots. The blooms only last a day so at least I can save them via my digital camera.

Happy Anniversary to us....

Today is our 29th wedding anniversary. John surprised me with this beautiful yellow rose and peacock feather arraignment. Very unusual. He's so sweet, I think I'll keep him. He took the day off work so we could go on a road trip to Webster. We enjoyed a pretty drive through some rolling hills, in Florida no less. We took the pups with us to the Webster flea market where they made lots of new friends. We enjoyed some of Webster's great food for lunch. Then we went out to dinner at Kobe Steakhouse with some good friends. A good time was had by all. We were also celebrating our friend, Teresa's birthday.

Summer Bird wins the Belmont Stakes

Summer Bird, ridden by Kent Desormeaux, won the 1.5 mile, Belmont Stakes. Summer Bird is a half brother to Mine That Bird. I was hoping Mine That Bird with Calvin Borel up would win, but they came in a close third, right behind Dunkirk. Oh well, that's horse racing. If you want to see a phenomenal Belmont Stakes race go to U-Tube and type in Secretariat and watch his Belmont run. What a race! That is one I will never forget. Gives me chills just to watch him run. I wonder if there will ever be another Secretariat. Don't think so. He set track records in each of his Triple Crown races.

What a power house Secretariat was. Truly one of a kind.

Gotcha....

This little Field Mouse has been causing havoc with John's barbecue grill. She has been making a nest in the covered grill along with chewing up the starter button and generally making a mess. We finally trapped her and took her for a ride to another location in a nice wooded area. I think Icee would have helped us get rid of her.

Turtle visitors....

Today we had two turtles cruise through the yard. It appears that the turtles are laying eggs in the woods or in our yards then heading back to the lake. Icee, LaLa and Chili discovered this turtle having a hard time trying to get around our fenced yard today. John eventually put her in the woods only to return to the yard to find another turtle also looking for a way out. He put this one in the woods too in case they were a pair. We believe that they are Yellow Bellied Sliders, but we could be wrong. If you can identify them let me know. John's brother, Tom, calls them Cooters. Later on I found another turtle in the yard making it three turtles passing through. I put this one on the other side of the fence and it took off for the lake. When it got close to the water it actually ran. I didn't know turtles could move that fast.