Worst Camping Trip Ever

The toad that visited our pool last year has returned. It is the same species of toad and I think it might be the female from last year because it seems smaller than the male. It also could just be a whole new toad altogether. The species is an American toad. It does have poison on its skin so we had to be careful with the dogs. It wasn't all that difficult though because I can imitate its call good enough that it responds, so when it is time to take the dogs out back I just do the call and figure out where it is at.
I finished the pond for this year. I put in a whole bunch of flowering plants and they are taking very nicely. The water is becoming much clearer because we got a new filter for it. We also started putting in live bacteria that eats the algae growing in the water. There is one problem with the pond so far. A Blue Heron came along one day and ate three of my six fish. I had them for three years and they were getting big, but the bird just came right along and ate them up. I put a temporary net over the pond to protect the other ones. They are afraid to come to the surface now. They won't even come up to eat, they wait until the food falls to the bottom. I put a picture of the finished pond below.
Another new thing I got was a composter. It came from Sam's Club and it was only around $35. We put a small plastic container in the kitchen and I made a does and don't list. Everyone in the house listens and does it so I am glad about that. In about two months I will start having finished fertilizer that I can put on my gardens.
A whole bunch of new plants were put around the house recently. Most of them are fruits and vegetable plants. There are banana peppers, some kind of hot pepper, green beans, strawberries, pumpkins, lettuce, parsley, mint, chives, and broccoli. The strawberries, both peppers, green beans, chives, parsley, mint, pumpkins, and lettuce have either started making fruits or flowering.
I went on a weekend camping trip and it was the worst thing I have EVER done. I got there Friday afternoon and it was 80 degrees and sunny so we set everything up quickly and easily thinking it was going to be like that the entire weekend. I wake up at 2am with my tent flat on top of me and hurricane Katrina's child was upon us. There was 65 mph winds and it was pouring down rain. It was still warm though at this point. So I got out of my sleeping bag and put the tent back up. Then once I was done I ran to help the other people set up there tents and when I got back mine was down again. I repeated this process about three times, until I just decided to sleep under my flat tent. Then the next morning the wind hadn't died down at all and it went from about 80 degrees to about 40 degrees. It was terrible. So we cooked breakfast and set off on the meetings we had to go to. We came back and all the tents were down again. We set them back up and went out again. After the last meeting we returned and the dining flys that we cook/eat under were all tied together to help keep them from blowing down. All of a sudden they ripped out of the ground and flew into the air above the trees. The poles in them then started to fall out and everyone scattered so they didn't get hit (the cars couldn't move so they got banged up). Once the main canvas part hit the ground it started to roll and took out about two thirds of everyone else's tents. We then went into panic mode and guess what happens next. It snows. We went through four seasons in one weekend. It was the worst camping trip I have ever gone on. Also the gear we had (half of which was destroyed by the winds) was brand new because the building it was housed in collapsed over the winter because of the extreme snow. So we bought new stuff for the real trip, because this was the practice, then it was smashed over the winter. Then we replaced that and it was destroyed by the winds on this trip.

Summer Camp and More

I went to summer camp during the end of July. I took four merit badge classes and and finished four of them. I got a partial on the fourth one. Summer camp was fun for the most part other than the fact that it thunder stormed every day and some of the people I had class with weren't the best. It was still fun. After that I started working on the merit badges that I needed for an award. I have to do six and I have three done. Also I went to the movies and saw the newest Harry Potter movie. It was pretty good. Then yesterday me and my aunt went to a huge fifty house yard sale. It was fun and I only spent $15. We saw so many things. I bought a black light bulb, a really nice pen, a basil plant, and I spent $12 on beanie babies that I thought were worth some money and it turns out that they were. Then I had to go out and buy three pairs of shoes because I needed rehearsal dinner, school, and cross country shoes. I also had to get a rehearsal dinner outfit plus regular clothes. I am also going to start redoing my room and bathroom. I already picked everything out and put the money aside. I am going to start after the wedding. Also the wedding is getting closer and and the final touches are making everyone crazier. My sister is getting really stressed out about it. I have been starting herbs and vegetables because I am going to do an indoor garden for winter so I can still have fresh vegetables and herbs all through the winter. Also I have been getting really interested in electric cars. I have been reading all about different ones and checking out new ones and been getting packets of information on them and reading them like a book.

Birthday and More

My Aunt came up and is now living with us. We have been doing all kinds of things like taking hikes on the railroad tracks and stuff like that. My birthday was July 9th. I had a small pool party. Well it was supposed to be but it rained so we moved inside. It was still fun though. Me and my aunt have also been going berry picking because there is a really big patch of blackberry and black raspberry bushes by my house in a park. I have also been getting into growing and taking care of tropical and wild flowers. I have tons right now. The area over the side of our deck is a big open area so we are going to try and make it into a place to plant and take care of them.

Happy Earth Day 2009

Plant a tree, hug a squirrel, or kiss a duck! It's Earth Day and this year I am planting two trees and gave one away. In school I joined the tree committee which helps pass out two year old trees to students and teachers to take home and plant. Two of them are White Spruces and one is a Silky Dogwood. Earth Day is one of my favorite holidays. I think the environment and all the animals that live in it are very cool.

Winter is Coming

Today was my town's first snow. I was excited. In math class everyone was distracted by the snow so the teacher closed the blinds. I managed to save the big plant in a small fish tank with a light so it should be safe for winter. The end of this week is the end of my first nine weeks of school. I am not happy. I want to get straight As but I have two Bs and I wanted to bring them up. It seems the subjects I don't like I don't do as well in.

Closing the Pond

I found out that I didn't get a time at WAADA. I got two new programs for my web site. One is called AdSense. It puts adds on my web site and then I get money for it. The second one is to track how many people visit my web site. I can tell of they used a search engine or what to get to my web site. I can also tell where they came from in the world. Today I had to close my pond. It takes a long time and is wet and dirty. One of the vines I had to pull up had these little potato things on it.

Also when I was pulling up the flowers I noticed that my dusty millers were really big. They are three times the normal size. I think that they just really like the soil. They are one of my two favorite plants.

My water plants were all normal. One was larger than all the other ones though so I wanted to save it for the winter but I couldn't. So instead of having to throw it away. I was allowed to let it live in the water on the pool cover until it dies from the winter cold.

Terrarium Becomes a Reality

Today was my last cross country work out day. We still have practice but the difference is that a workout is much harder and is supposed to train you so you get better. With a practice it is typically an easy 45 minute distance run. We still have a good bit of meets left before the season is over though. I am thinking about getting a sundew terrarium. They are plants that eats flies and bugs. They are sort of tropical but not expensive or hard to take care of. They are similar to venus fly traps. I have been wanting them and I think that I can finally get them. I used to have pitcher plants but they were hard and they were one of those things that everything that could go wrong did. These sundew are very pretty smell like honey are inexpensive and are easy to take care of. This is a picture of a sundew. Also if you want to see a video of a sundew catching a fly click HERE.

Betas Don't Work Out

The female beta did not seem to like the nest from the beginning so she did not mate with him. I think they know that they are not going to mate and they are not killing each other, so I am not going to try and breed them I am just going to leave them together. I am also not going to get the new beta. I'm going back to school on Tuesday. I am not sure if I want to but I have no choice. I bought a new back pack. I have been thinking about and looking into getting a tank of Honey Suckle. They are plants that eat flies like Venus Fly Traps. I already have a lot of the stuff from when I had tree frogs. I put some new Steeler stuff on my web site so check it out. To go to my web site click here.