New Hobby

There are many things that I enjoy to do and I have discovered a new hobby. I have mad Gardening skills and one of the benifits of having a garden is being able to see so many beautiful butterflies. So now one of my bigiest hobbies is to photograph every new butterfly that I can in my garden. I missed out on one today though. I went to take a picture of what I belive to have been a Gulf Fritillary when out of no where a moth landed beside the butterfly and scared him away. Some of my favorite butterflies are seen in my Butterfly Set on Flickr.

Family Tree

I joined or became a member of Family Tree on Facebook this week. It really is neat and I enjoy seeing just how big my family is. When I say big I really mean BIG. I am not finished yet and I have already counted 160 some family members. I have also came to the conclusion that in the early 1900's couples must of been really happy because on both sides of the family my grandparents, great grandparents, and great great grandparents all had between 8 and 13 childreen. I cant imagine how big the tree is going to be when I am finished.

Too Hot

It is way to hot to do any gardening this week although I did manage to collect some seeds from some of my Zinnias. I need to finish cutting the backyard and I have to water all of my garden this afternoon when the sun goes down. This heat is not doing good things for my plants and it is suppose to be over 100 degrees this Thursday. I just hope everything survives the heat wave. On the upside the Butterflies and other insects seem to love the heat. Ive even seen some new ones in my garden this summer and I had my first Humming Bird so far that I know of this year. The Humming Bird was flying around my Zinnias and enjoying some of the sweet nectar out of them.

Fishing Adventure

I finally had the chance to go fishing with my Aunt and Uncle this week. They would always tell me tales about the monster catfish that would straighten their fishing hook and escape back into the murky depths of the pond. Finally after hearing many of these amazing stories of the fish that got away, I was invited to go with them on a cloudy day this week.

When we arrived at the pond it wasn't what I was expecting. The pond was in the front yard of the owners house at looked more like a decorative pond then a fishing pond. It even had little figurines in various places around the pond and small benches. I thought to myself, "OK, Where is the fishing pond?" All thoughts aside after setting up all our chairs and fishing poles I put a artificial minnow on my line and cast it into the murky brown water. I started to real it in and as soon as it came to the edge of the pond SNAP! A fish had mistaken my minnow for a easy meal. I reeled the fish in and it was a nice sized bream. It didn't take long to catch a couple of bream but I was ready for the monster catfish.

The bait of choice was chicken livers. I had never used chicken livers as bait before and it was a little disgusting. However I was told that is what the catfish like. So I put a stinky piece of liver on my hook and cast it into the pond. I waited and waited and was giving up hope when all of a sudden my bober sinks down into the water and I could tell that this was no bream it was a catfish. I reeled in my line with ease and pulled a small catfish up to the surface and onto land. It might of only weighed 4 or 5 pounds but I was glad to have caught the first catfish of the day.

The pond has an automatic feeder that sends feed soaring into the pond at 6 o'clock every day. I was told when that happens you can almost put a hook right into a catfish's mouth. So I stuck around till 6. I was using one of my lures when I heard the motor in the feeder start and a minute later you could see fish splashing the surface of the pond for their meal. I could see huge catfish come to the surface and open their mouth like a vacuum and engulf a handful of feed. Now was my time I tossed my line into the water right on top of a catfish. A second later I had him and was reeling it in but I was struggling. The catfish must have been huge because it took my hook right of my line. My Aunt quickly handed me her fishing pole because I didn't have my hooks with me to fix my line (It had started raining earlier and we packed up everything but the poles and some bait). I saw another catfish and cast the line toward it. I didn't think I would catch another one when out of the blue the bober sunk again and from the stress on the line this had to be the monster. I reeled it in to the edge of the pond and laid my eyes upon a true monster catfish. The catfish had a head around 5 to 6 inches wide,was about 2 in a half to 3 feet long, and weighed at lest 10 pounds if not 12. I had him he was mine.

All in all I caught 5 catfish and 3 bream. My Aunt and Uncle and cousin caught all together 3 catfish and 13 bream. My mother and I are going to have a nice meal tonight. I will never forget this fishing trip and I cant wait to go back to catch the one that got away.

Back Sorry I left for so long.

I have not posted anything on my blog in way to long. Which I think is OK because I don't believe anyone but friends ever read my blog. However if I'm wrong I do apologize for being away so long. I'm back now and have many things to discuss and share with the world or whoever wants to read it. I have lots of posts brainstorming in my mind so stick around.

Veggie Garden Before and After

I have been picking some veggies out of my Garden. My mother made a Squash Casserole with the squash I have pick so far. Also we made a salad with the lettuce I grew. So here are some befor and after pictures.

Cool Picture Effects

I love all the awesome things that I can do to my pictures using the photo program called Picasa. Here are some of the pictures that I have edited. Using Picasa you can do many things such as focus an image, Tint an image, and filter images. There are a ton more effects you can use in Picasa so go download yours today.

Pikes Peak Purple Beard Tongue

I bought this plant from Lowe's last year. It was dying and on sale for $2.50. I bought it anyway. I planted it in my front yard flower garden and within a week it was back to life. I love this plant it is very colorful and attracts lots of butterflies and bees that I like to photograph. It doesn't require much watering and is pretty hardy. It is a must have for any garden. The Pikes Peak Purple Beard Tongue really is a proven winner.

Back Yard Farm

Well you already know about my front yard make-over but there are things going on in the back yard also. There is my new row crops full of corn, beans, squash, bell pepper and a cabbage. There is also my above ground vegetable boxes that were originally meant to be flower boxes. So my yard is now full of Carrots, Cabbage, Lettuce, Strawberries, Raspberries, Bell pepper, Beans, Squash, Pink Tomato, Porter House Tomato, Homestead Tomato, and Better Boy Tomato. My Dad really likes Tomato's. I also have a problem with buying plants. Lowe's is like crack to me. However I know the first step to solving your problem is to omit you have one. I have a buying plants problem.

Front Yard Face Lift #2

Time to tackle the bushes. I love the Azalea bushes around my house but they needed a leaf trim. Also the holy bushes had to be cut back. So I put on my shorts and my working shoes and hacked at it. I'm sure I probably could have done a better job but I think it looks OK. I tried to make the bushes square and not round. What do you think, did I do OK.

Front Yard Face Lift

My front yard is in serious need of a face lift so one of my goals this year is to give my front yard a full make-over. I started with a small bush by my front steps. I hate that bush. It would not be so bad if the roots went down deep in the soil but instead they spread around the bush just a couple of inches under the soil. This creates the problem of small bushes growing into my azaleas. Also I cant plant anything when there are roots in my way. So the bush had to go. This called for a heavy metal chain and a powerful truck. Luckily the bush came right out because the roots were so so close to the surface of the soil. The next step was to fertilize the soil with some black cow and garden soil. The final step was to plant the goods. My plants of choice where Impatiens, Saliva, Snapdragon, Stock, and Red and Blue Columbine. Oh and I cant forget the water that is the most important part. That's it. That was the first part to my front yard make-over.

Fram agian farm again yeppie!!!

Well we went back to the farm. Oh how I missed it. The colors, sound and smell. I missed it all. I did not miss the cow calves. They were much more wild and anger this trip. I think they knew why we were there. It was so funny to see the sophomore's faces when they started to palpate the cows. Then there was the boy who only weighed like 90 pounds that tried to tackle a 250 pound calf to the ground by himself. Let it go to show the calf one that battle. Then there was the boy who ripped his pants. That was worth the trip. I just love being away from all the stress of the city and school. The farm is like a small sanctuary. I could spend the rest of my life there. I cant wait for the next trip.