Hydroponic Peace Plant with Beta Fish

When I was outside yesterday, my neighbor called me over to see what she made.  It was a Hydroponic Peace Plant.  Have you seen those?  I made one years ago, but had forgotten about them.  Hers was beautiful! I wanted one again.

I had a repair man here fixing my washing machine, and as soon as he left I went shopping to get the materials I needed to make one.  I already had the clear vase and rocks, but needed the male Beta fish and a Peace Plant. I had trouble finding a good plant, but finally found a gorgeous one at Home Depot.  I got the fish at WalMart.  They had quite a selection, most had beautiful colors.  The males are the most vibrant, females are more bland in their coloring.

Pretty with a turquoise ribbon 

 Isn't he gorgeous?

This would make a nice gift

I put a blue ribbon around the vase, but it should have a wide, wired ribbon with a big, pretty bow.  It's off to Michael's today.  They have tons of ribbon, and should have a good color that will match my new fish.

If you haven't seen these, there are a few plants that will thrive in water only, and don't need dirt.  (Although they are in pots with dirt when you buy them.) The fish gets what it needs from the roots of the plant, and the plant gets fertilizer from the fish droppings.   Betas are perfect for this, I don't know if other fish would work, but I know only one Beta should be in the water, because they will kill other fish and other Betas.  They are so beautiful and graceful. 

I think this would make a nice gift, but I would give a smaller one.  Minimal care - occasionally add water, once a day add Beta food.  I think after a while the fish gets all he needs from the roots and you can stop feeding.  That will become apparent if/when he doesn't touch his food.

If you are interested in making one of these, you can use a smaller vase and smaller plant.  If I ever do this again, I'll make a smaller one.   Mine is 38 inches tall, from the bottom of the vase to the top of the tallest flower.  Too tall for my dining room table.  It almost hits the chandelier.  

The only hard part - be prepared for this! - is getting all the dirt off the roots.  It took me forever, and I had to take the plant apart, break intertwining roots, used my kitchen faucet sprayer, pulled little dirt-embedded baby roots off, and finally got tweezers to reach spots my fingers couldn't reach.  What a pain!  A smaller plant would have fewer roots, and they wouldn't be so entwined.

This photo is from the link I found with materials/directions on the web.  I was going to add the link, but now I can't find it.  It had great directions, so if you're interested, you'll have to Google for it yourself.  I'm usually a good researcher, but this one stumped me when trying to find it again.

 Hydroponic Peace Plant with Beta Fish

I've heard during my lifetime how there is nothing new.  When I saw my neighbor's plant, I thought of that.  Once you get to be my age, there is little that's new.  Things just recycle - you enjoy them, you forget about them, then they come back.  Sometimes they are a little different, but you remember them, and they feel familiar.  This one was exactly like the one I made long ago, and it brought back some great memories of people and places.  I guess that's why I immediately wanted to put another one together.

From Me and My Dog, Katie, have a great weekend, everyone! : )

Cody correction: Chiweenie

I have a correction to make about what kind of dog Cody is - Kristy, my daughter, had told me he "has a face like a German Shephard puppy."  I thought she said he was part German Shephard.  Chihuahua/German Shephard mix - well, I'll leave that one alone.

They think he is part Chihuahua and part Dachshund.  This mix is called a "Chiweenie."  That's a new one on me!  I've never heard of it, but I guess with so many Chihuahuas now, we are going to get all kinds of new blends.  Here he is again, with granddaughter, Lauren, in the background--I recognize the shirt. : )

Cody

Kristy and the kids, Andrew and Lauren, Skyped me today and I got to see Cody in person - or at least on the screen.  He is so cute.  He IS very calm but can run fast and was playing with the kids, running after his ball -  they were screaming and laughing and running.  Cody plays really well with the kids, and they were very good with him. 

I can't wait to see how he and Katie get along.  Katie plays and runs with people, but I've never seen her play with another dog.  We'll be there a few days over Mother's Day, so Katie and Cody will have a chance to get to know each other.  Katie has never spent time with another animal since I've had her.

I was looking at Kristy's Facebook for a new photo of Cody, but the one above is the only one there, sorry for the repeat.  But I found a few new ones of my granddaughter, Lauren - couldn't resist:

 Lauren at the Park

 

Isn't that hair just great?!?

That's all for tonight - good grief - it's almost midnight.  Sleep well, everyone, from me and Katie! : )

My new dog-faced grandson & Happy St. Patrick's Day

We have a new addition to the family!  When my daughter Kristy e-mailed me about a new family addition, I saw the subject line and thought, a Baby???  A new room in the house???  Well, the new addition is a dog.  They have been wanting a dog for a long time.  My granddaughter, Lauren, three, just LOVES Katie.  Andrew, almost 6, likes her okay, but pretty much stays away from Katie.

 My dog-faced grandson, Cody

So, last weekend they were at the pet shelter and saw this little guy, who was perfect for them.  They named him Cody, he's  a four year old rescue dog, part Chihuahua (his body and legs) and German Shepherd (his head and face).  Isn't he cute?  He looks like a puppy.  Kristy said even Andrew loves him, so he must be a winner.  Kristy said he has a really nice nature, and in two days they haven't heard him bark.  They are sooo lucky - that's Katie's only real fault - she's a barker (but getting better).

I'm sure Lauren and Andrew are really enjoying Cody.  I'm driving up to visit them for Mother's Day, so I will get to meet him then. And Katie will meet her new ... nephew?

 These are the BEST Irish Coffees - at the Buena Vista in San Francisco.

Have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day, everyone, from me and Katie!  Irish Coffee, anyone?  : )

An early Easter Bunny Katie

A BIG WELCOME to three new followers:

David, who is "off to Mexico" soon.  His is a new blog and tells the tale of getting "Dod" ready for travel.  Here is what Dod looked like when he bought it:  "the cab over section had been pushed in about 6" by a low tree branch; the windshield was cracked; one tire was flat; the battery was dead (really dead); the spark plug wires had been chewed by mice; the carpet was filthy; there was an odor reminiscent of a tom cat..."  This is a man with gumption!  I love it.  Actually it's a really cute looking RV.  Dod is a Dodge missing the ge from the nameplate.  So far I have really enjoyed this blog!

Donna K, who will be traveling with her husband, Russ and two dogs in a beautiful new Lazy Daze named "Therapy."  They've had a large RV carport built in their driveway to house their new RV.  Now they are figuring out where to spend the month of April in the new rig.  Sounds like fun!

and,

Melissa33 - I don't see a blog listed for you, Melissa.  If you have one, or start blogging, let me know and I'll follow along with you, too.

Thanks for becoming followers to you all!

We're a bit early, but here's Katie's new Easter outfit:

Little Katie Bunny

She actually walked around the patio then around the living room with these ears on.  Then...a good shake, and goodbye, ears!  She is such a good sport, as you all know. : )

My grandson, Gavin, came for a visit yesterday.  As usual we were busy all day, played with the Wii, then took a photo shoot walk to the lake.  I gave Gavin my old camera to use, and it was amazing how quickly he got it.  Hold the camera in both hands, look into the view finder, use one finger to adjust the distance, hold still and push down the button.  That's a lot for a six year old to learn and he got it instantly.  These kids have such good hand/eye coordination because of all their electronic games!  So we snapped away on the way to the lake.  He took a photo of some flowers in my walkway, an American flag in a neighbor's front yard, and a self portrait among others.  

 Self Portrait

Katie and Gavin

We fed the ducks,walked over for lunch outside on the patio of the cafe by the lake (outside because Katie was with us).  Gavin got compliments from the waitress for being so well behaved.  Katie, too.  The waitress asked if Katie was friendly, and I said yes, so she bent over and petted her, obviously a dog lover.  She said Saturday a woman was there sitting on the patio for lunch, and she had her Chihuahua with her.  The dog was really "snappy," and tried to bite the waitress.  Then she said, "Actually the woman was pretty snappy, herself!"  Like owner, like dog.  Funny.

 The Mickey Mouse Pancakes - Gavin's lunch

Coming in for a landing...and some bread.

Two ducks and a seagull all going for the bread.

Then we walked home, Gavin found a couple of hiding places in the bushes around my condo, then he played the Wii again while I downloaded the photos he took.  I printed them out after he left and he got them today.

 Gavin in a secluded spot behind the bushes

A good time was had by all.  I was asleep before 7:00, totally knocked out, so was Katie.  And today I was sore from all the exercise.  Katie and I have been waaaaay too sedentary during the winter months.  But still, I don't know why I'm so totally beat after a day with a grandchild.  Maybe because it's constant activity.  And the fact that I'm 60 years older than Gavin.  : )

From Me and My Dog, Katie, have a great Monday evening, everyone!  : )

The Owl USTREAM video

I don't know if you have noticed the owls at the bottom of my blog.  It's a real time video of an owl nesting box in Oceanside, CA.  This is all new to me, but a woman I work with was ga-ga over this owl family last year, and this year I started watching it.  It's a USTREAM - I guess like a small camera that goes 24/7 and records what's going on.  I'd love to have one in my condo during the day so I could see what Katie is doing.  Kind of like a Nanny Cam.

Anyway, this female owl, Sydney sits in the nest and over a couple of weeks lays 7 eggs. Aproximately every other day.  Six have hatched, one was not viable.  During the night the male owl, Mel, brings her food, like mice, gophers, rabbits, etc.  Now that she has baby owls, she feeds them and is teaching them to feed themselves.  I've learned so much from the woman at work and the comment section on the side of the streaming video.  These are beautiful birds, and their babies look like prehistoric animals.  Dinosaur birds.

 Here's Sydney with an owlet peeking out.

 Sydney is moving around.  You can see unhatched eggs and some owlets.

When this photo was captured, there were three babies and three eggs.

Notice the food that Mel brought her during the night.

During the day it's clear and very interesting, the night cam isn't as good, but they are still pretty active.  Poor Sydney, she was sitting on these seven eggs, all was well, now they are hatched and getting bigger every day, starting to grow feathers, wiggling around constantlly, and every time she sits down, one of them is popping out a head or a tail.  Sometimes it's really funny! : )

The box starts out plain wood, but as you can see, she now has a soft lining of fur for her babies to nestle in.  You don't wanna know!  Unless you have a strong stomach or a real interest in the way birds nest.  But it is fascinating.  Nature is wierd and wonderful.

That's it for today - from me and Katie, have a great Wednesday, everyone! : )