Friday, July 13, 2007

Thursday Surprises & Fun

The Spousal Unit and I took a half-day off today (when you start at 5:30 you get to leave work at 9:30--how great is that?)

I had a few things around the yard that I wanted to get done before the family arrived for pictures at 3:15. One of the main things was to clean out my little pond. The water had gotten so dirty you couldn't even see the fish anymore! So I pulled on my rubber gloves and dragged the wet/dry vac to the backyard (since my pond is pretty small it's a fairly quick job). I got a really good surprise when I was filling it up and put the little potted aquatic plant back in the water....
This little frog is living in my tiny pond! I've never had frogs before, so I don't know if he was living in the plant when I got it or if he hopped over from somewhere else. Whatever the reason, I was pretty excited about it.

I was also surprised at how much the fish had grown since May when I put them back out in the "wild."
I remembered to add a capful of pond clarifier when I filled it, in an effort to try and stay ahead of algae build-up this time around.
It's nice and cool again (70's for highs during the day) so the air is turned off and the windows are open. While I was sitting at my computer and checking e-mail, I heard an unusual-sounding plane flying over. I dashed out to the deck with binoculars and camera, trying to get a visual and here's what I managed to photograph (my third surprise of the day):
According to our newspaper, it's a B-17 Bomber. Have you ever heard one of those? There is a very distinctive low roar of their engines. Whenever I hear them (which isn't too often anymore) I think of what it must have been like during WWII hearing them leave the bases in Britain and then flying over Europe.
The EAA Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin is celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the US Air Force the last weekend in July, and this plane is enroute to that event. When Brother Phil was in the Air Force, I had the good fortune of being able to schedule a couple vacations that coincided with air shows at bases he was stationed at. I really enjoy seeing military aircraft and need to try and figure out if there's a way I can get over to Oshkosh later this month.

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The family picture was a lot of fun. It was a bit windy, but it's always that way at our house. It was really fun to have everyone together and all dressed up.

Brother Dave, Charlie and Spousal Unit discussing "guy stuff"

My Sissy and her 2 girls

Brother Phil working as a human "sun filter" to keep those bright rays out of the photograph--good thing you're tall, Phil!

Wow, Phil, I think you're pretty good at that. If UP ever lets you go, your next career may be in film!

Mom and Dad with the 3 grandkids.

Me and my siblings (with Charlie, that little camera hog!)

And last here's me, the Spousal Unit, Charlie and Brother Dave.

What a fun day to have the family together. Mom brought all the wedding photo albums to our anniversary celebration supper. We had great conversation and lots of laughs.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The first thing this morning I did was look at "Nature Knitter" and sure enuf their was a blog.
You had a lot of surprises Wed and a lot of nice pictures.
It was a fun evening celebrating our 50th, yes,there were lots of laughs too.
See you later this morning!
MOM

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Congratulations to your Mom and Dad on their 50th!!! I love looking at pix of parents and siblings. It's fun to see who looks like who. Your Spousal Unit looks like such a nice guy. Glad you all had such a nice day.

entoto said...

Lovely family and congratulations to the folks!

Nice froggy and pond. It looks so peaceful.

nina at Nature Remains. said...

You'll have a croaking pond in no time once the word gets out!
We once had a "test hole" dug (previous house) for a pond, to determine clay content of soil....4-5 feet deep--anyway, overnight 4 frogs appeared and got stranded in the bottom of it. It's amazing where they come from, but they do.

RuthieJ said...

Hi Lynne,
Thanks for your kind words. It is amazing as we get older how we start to resemble our parents even more. My Spousal Unit is a nice guy, and women really like him....everywhere we go, the ladies always smile at him, "nope, never seen her before in my life" is what he always tells me and I just LOL

Thanks Trixie. It's a "budget" pond (a little kids wading pool), but it's easy for me to maintain and relaxing to watch the fish.

Hi Nina,
I wonder if the frog wasn't a tadpole in the roots of the water lettuce or the potted plant? I've had a little pond in this area for at least 5 years and this froggy is a first for me.

Mary said...

Ruthie,

I like your term "spousal unit" (chuckle).

Now you have an opportunity to photograph toad and frog porn. Aren't you happy?

We lived one mile from Dover Air Force Base for three years. Although the C-5s and 19s drove me crazy, the fighter jets were astounding. I don't miss the noise, however.

"Picture Day" is a great idea! Everyone smiled and it proved to be a very special day. It is nice to see you enjoying your family. We all need to schedule time to do the same...

Mary C said...

Ruthie- congratulate your folks for me. Dave and I celebrated our 40th last Sunday (8th) - and then we drove up to the northern-most part of California to visit some wildlife refuges. I'm so glad you were all able to get together and have family pix taken. So glad the weather is cooperating, too. Have a great weekend with your family!

Jayne said...

What a milestone, 50 years! My mom and dad celebrate their 50th on October 5th of this year. Congratulations to your parents. Really wonderful family photos Ruthie!

RuthieJ said...

Hi Mary,
I can't even get goldfish porn! and this little frog is a lot more secretive than my fish.
The Minnesota Air National Guard also flies their C-130s out of Rochester Airport several days a week. They're loud, but fun to watch also.

Hi Mary C,
I hope you had a fun and memorable trip for your anniversary.
Our weather has been just about perfect for Minnesota in July, so we've been able to spend lots of time outside.

Hi Jayne,
The hardest thing for me about seeing my parents celebrate their 50th anniversary is knowing how close that makes me to 50 also! At least my siblings have the satisfaction of knowing they're all younger than me.