Pressure washing

Tonight I did some pressure washing. It was a messy job and I was glad I wore goggles since I got a lot of crap shot back at me. The duplex needed it so badly that there were areas I couldn't remove the stain without removing the paint; I just left those areas on. Here are a few pictures.

(side brick area)

Aquarium update

This week, we added about 68 new creatures to the tank. I ordered them by mail, and they were shipped overnight. I used my lunch to come home and get them set-up. Hanneke and I both got strange looks when we told our respective colleagues "I have to go home briefly now; Fedex just delivered a box of crabs to my door." Here's a picture of their shipping box and some of them in the bags within:



(hermit crabs)

Here's one of them in particular that I'll talk about more later:

(coral banded shrimp)

The creatures were all snails of different kinds (30 total snails), hermit crabs of 2 kinds (32 total), 2 emerald crabs, 3 peppermint shrimp, and 1 coral banded shrimp. We added them as a cleaner crew for the tank, to keep algae growth and detritus under control. Before adding them, I set up a tubing loop that dripped water into a container from our main tank so that they could acclimate to the specific water parameters of our tank. The water dripped into their little box for about 2 hours, then we added them each into the tank (Hanneke added them, I had to go back to work).

I guess it worked out, because most of them are still alive. In the days since Tuesday, some have been eaten; in fact, the day after we added them, one of the Damsel fish went missing. We still don't know what happened to her. I think that 1 of the peppermint shrimp and 1-2 of the scarlet hermit crabs are also no longer with us. In putting the coral banded shrimp in, it also got an arm caught in the net and it was removed from its body. Fortunately, it will grow back in future moltings. 68 cleaners for a 24 gallon tank is too many; We should have more like 30. But they all came in a pre-made pack online and I didn't know if some would die (this is, after all, mail-order living stuff), so I bought too many. More on this in a moment.

The tank has done well this week. Most of the water parameters I test are looking good. A lot of the bad algae has been eaten, so the janitor crew is doing a good job. Encouraged by this success, Hanneke and I began talking during the week about buying a second, smaller tank. We wanted it so that we'd have somewhere to put any fish or critters that were sick or getting bullied. Plus, it'd be fun. Coincidentally, when we were out to deliver some of the extra hermit crabs/snails/etc. to a local fish store (as I mentioned above, we have too many), they had a nice all-in-one system for sale used (3 weeks old). The price was right, so we bought it on the spot. Here it is:



This new system is 12 gallons and uses a completely different kind of light fixture. My current one, the 24 gallon, uses compact fluorescents in 2 colors (a high-spectrum "white" bulb and an actinic blue bulb). This new one, the 12 gallon, uses an HQI, which is a more expensive kind but ultimately more efficient. The bulb is fascinating and changes color visibly as it heats up. I had not planned to buy an HQI all-in-one system because they usually cost twice as much. But, it was on sale used for $150 and I had planned to spend $140 for a new, less-good version. So we went ahead and bought the HQI. In the picture above, its 6 LEDs (3 blue, 3 white) are the lighting, since it is nighttime.

Sure enough, we have a use for the new tank already: one of the 2 remaining damsel fish is being bullied pretty bad. So he was transfered into the tank today. Let me tell you, that was a very frustrating process. Try and imagine spending 4 hours catching a 1 inch fish using a 3 inch-across net. Now try to imagine doing that in a tank full of rocks and caves where it can hide. Now add to all of that the prospect that, as you pick up pieces of rock to move them, you have to avoid the pinching-crabs (which are hiding somewhere on the rocks that you are holding). Here's what those buddies look like:

(Emerald Mytrhax Crab,internet picture, not my actual crab)

(Coral Banded Shrimp, internet picture)

Fun times.

The final development over the weekend is that after we had finished the transportation of the Damsel, I saw a floating set of whiskers on the top of the tank. I opened it and floating in the dim light was the coral banded shrimp, ripped open and very dead. Hanneke and I threw him away, saddened that we'd probably conributed to his death somewhere in the moving-rocks/transporting-Damsel, despite our best efforts not to hurt anything. Or so we thought. About 10 minutes later, when checking to see if anything else was missing, I saw the distinctive long whiskers of the coral banded shrimp coming around a rock---he was very much alive. What we found must have been his molted exoskelton. Very tricky. He appears to be alive and well, though he hasn't regrown his second pincher-arm yet.

So, that accounts for most of the developments this week with the tank. In about 2 weeks, we will add some of the other cleaning crew to the smaller tank, and then we will begin adding coral to the larger tank. In other news, Hanneke and I played tennis with a friend on Saturday and then went frisbee golfing Saturday afternoon. Next week, we plan to head to Disney for the final weekend that our passes work.

Couscous

Couscous is the type of food I have been experimenting with lately. It is great because it is really easy to prepare, you can add many different things to it, and you can eat it hot or cold (good for dinner, good for lunch the next day, good for picnics, etc). I found a couscous recipe last week that we like a lot. It is called balsamic couscous.

Balsamic Couscous
1) Prepare 1 cup of couscous using chicken broth (or 1/2 a bullion cube) and some corriander or cumin (whichever you prefer).
2) Cut up into small pieces carrot (1/2 cup), cucumber (1/2 cup) and dried cranberries (1/2 cup).
3) Fluff couscous with a fork and put in mixing/serving bowl. Add small pieces of vegis/fruit.
4) Mix 1 Tbsp olive oil, 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, and a little salt and pepper.
5) Add dressing to main bowl. Mix well. Serve.

This couscous is really tasty. Plus you can mix it up and put in whatever you want (some other dried fruit instead of cranberries, for example). If I have some diced onion, I usually put a little in, but only if I already have it out for something else.

Out other main couscous recipe involves adding diced tomatoes, cucumbers, and feta cheese. It is topped with a mix of equal parts olive oil and lemon juice. You can always add some fresh herbs too, if you have them, like parsley.

I will continue to look for more couscous recipes, so if you have one you love, please share it in comments.

more creatures

This week we also got some new creatures for the fish tank (none of these nre creatures are fish though). Here they are (in bags) getting used to the water temperature before being added to the tank. We got some snails, crabs, and shrimp. Brian may post with more details.

New couch!

This week we got a new (to us) couch. I found it online and we went to pick it up (with some friends and a truck) on Thursday. It was dirty (it looked like it had lived in a small house with several college boys), but I spent a lot of Thursday afternoon cleaning and deodorizing it. Now it is great. And it was free. Awesome!

more ferrets at the window

Here are the ferrets at the window, this time from the outside. Brian is encouraging Eve to come down off the screen in the first picture (she likes to climb all the way to the top), while Brussels watches. In the second picture, Rex is watching a car drive by.

fish tank update

Here are some new pics of the fish tank. As you can see, the previously white rocks in the lower part of the tank are starting to pick up some color. We are expecting to get some new critters for the tank tomorrow, so another update will come soon. The second picture shows the tank with its night lighting.

Windows

This last week, the weather has been really nice, so we have been opening the windows in the evening to let some fresh air in. The ferrets really like it, since they can hear many new sounds (like birds, cars, etc), can smell new smells (other animals, plants, etc) and can feel the wind sometimes. They enjoy climbing up onto the windowsill to press up against the screen, or even climbing up next to the window when it is closed. Sometimes, they will sit in their cage at window level and look out. It is pretty cute. Here is Eve peeking back into the room after looking out the window. Even the blinds don't discourage curious ferrets!

Gardening update

This weekend, Brian and I spent some time gardening. We got some gardening soil and pink flowers to plant along the side of the house, around the bushes that are already there.


We also got some flowers to plant under the windows at the front of our house, hopefully to attract butterflies for us and the ferrets to watch. The flowers are purple, blue, and white. I also put a couple pink flowers in front, since we had some extras.


Finally, we planted some hydrangeas last weekend, but I haven't posted a picture yet, so I wanted to do that too. They are behind the house, in a shady spot where there are some nice bushes between our house and the neighbors. They seem to be doing well back there so far.

Lake Macatawa

I almost missed Holland when I was flying from Detroit to Seattle, but I'm pretty sure this is Lake Macatawa, so my parent's house is just south of this lake. Check out the lake shape on mapquest and tell me if you think I'm right.

Vancouver

It has taken me a while to get caught up here at home after my trip to Vancouver, so these pictures are a little tardy. I went to Vancouver for a conference the last week of March. It was quite pretty, but a lot of things would have been simpler if we had gone to Seattle instead (money conversion, cell phones, hotel room size, etc). It is a very pretty city though, and aside from the day that it sleeted, the weather was pretty nice too. I even got to enjoy a little snow. Here is the view flying into Vancouver.


I went to a really nice park with some of my friends for part of an afternoon. I think it was called Stanley Park. Here is a picture from my walk in Stanley Park.


The park is famous for its totem poles. Here I am in front of some of them. they were really fantastic to look at. There is a little stream that separates the totems from the viewing area, which keeps people from touching them and trying to climb them. (The kids who were looking at the totem poles at the same time as I was were quite disappointed.)


This stream is used by salmon to spawn. Unfortunately, they were not spawning when I was there. But it is still a very pretty stream.


One of the most beautiful parts of Vancouver is the mountains. It was usually too cloudy to see them, but we did have a couple clear morning hours. The building that looks like it is made of giant white sails is the conference center where the meetings were held. The brown lines at the picture's base are train tracks. Just beyond the conference center is a large bay, although it is not visible from this angle.

Fish Tank

As many of you know, we have been working on getting a saltwater fish tank set up at our house. This weekend, we made it to a major milestone: we now have a tank, with saltwater, with live rock, and (last but not least) with fish! Here is the current configuration. The rocks that are darker in color came from the aquarium store covered in helpful microbes. They should spread to the lighter colored rock in time.

Tri for Gey

The Tri for Gey was yesterday morning. About 70 Tri for Gey team members swam/biked/ran the triathlon, which I understand to have been about 1/5th of the membership in the event. As you may recall, the purpose of the Team Gey's participation was to raise money to fight ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), in honor of our good friend Professor Steve Gey. Steve continues to battle ALS, and we continue to support him.

Because I work for the Court, I may not fundraise. So, I did not compete in the Tri for Gey. Instead, I volunteered to create a training video for them. After several weeks of filming and many days of editing, the "teaser" version of that video is done. I plan to make a full version at a later date that focuses more on Steve generally; the "teaser" focuses on the Team and, by obvious connection, to Steve as the reason the Team exists. It is a blend of humor and sincerity. I hope you enjoy it.

Things that may be useful to know:
- Curtis Bridgeman is a professor at the College of Law
- The Red Hills triathlon involves swimming 1/3 of a mile, biking 16 miles, and then running 3.1 miles
- Barbara is a team member of Team Gey

Tri for Gey 2008 Short Version Video (medium quality, ~176MB, <13 minutes):