Hiking on Rabbit Mountain

Took a hike on Rabbit Mountain. The trail was 3 miles round trip and took about 1 hour and 45 minutes to walk. That means we walked about 1.71 miles per hour, wow so fast! Hah.

As we approached the trail head, we heard the unmistakeable yapping on a prairie dog. Crystal stared towards the noisy little rodent. We continued on to the gradual incline of the trail, taking in the calm sights around us and the quiet atmosphere. Saw some other people walking their dogs on the trail, as well as some horseback riders.

Finally! We had reached the end of the trail. We looked around, not much to see. We were high from the land below us, and there seemed to I noticed a dead tree nearby, and in the distance there seemed to be a stacked formation of large rocks.

Just below, I noticed a sphere shaped rock sitting peacefully on rock slab.The walk really worked us out that's for sure. And note to self: bring at least two bottles of water for the hike.



Crystal enjoyed the walk a lot, while we were tired and huffing and puffing it didn't seem to bother her at all. However when we returned home, it was quite evident that it affected her old lady joints. She was licking her hocks like crazy to sooth the pain away. I suppose I could put her on Rimadyl, but I'd prefer not to. I'm hoping that Cosequin DS with MSM may be the better answer. Currently Crystal is on a joint supplement, but I only give it to her at night. And if I do the Cosequin, I would break it into pieces and sneak it in with her string cheese that she gets every morning. The cheese is a dairy product which is inflammatory and seems counter-intuitive, but that is her favorite treat and I have to compromise in order to get the Cosequin tablet into her, since she is very picky and probably will not eat the tablet by itself. I've tried it with other tablets that I had given her previously before trying the liquid joint supplement.

Installing Windows 7 on ExoPC that has MeeGo

1. Put Windows 7 on a USB Stick. It must be a stick, I tried SDHC card and it didn't format right. I used this site for directions on how to put Windows 7 on the USB drive: http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-install-windows-7vista-from-usb-drive-detailed-100-working-guide/

2. Plug in the USB stick into the ExoPC. Turn it on, and press Setup as soon as you see it.

3. When you are in the Setup, click on the Save & Exit tab.

4. Under Boot Override, click on the name of your USB drive, it was the second one under SATA for me.

5. Windows 7 should boot up, follow the directions. Delete current Disk and Partitions to make a disk with unallocated space.

6. Choose the Disk with unallocated space to install Windows 7 and follow on screen directions.

7. Do NOT enter product code during installation, click next. After installation, go to My Computer and go to system properties, scroll all the way to bottom and click on Change Key.

8. Make sure you are not connected to the internet, then Enter the product key. Wait for it to fail to connect online, then click for other activation options and click on automated phone. Call the toll free number.

9. Follow the directions given by the phone. If done correctly, Windows 7 is now fully activated.

10. To connect to internet, you might find that the driver for the built-in Atheros is missing. You need to use a USB internet adapter and connect to the internet temporarily via that way.

11. Once you got your USB internet adapter running internet, do a Windows Update immediately. You will notice the driver for the Atheros driver is there (might be under optional updates). Be sure to have it checked, and run the update and restart the ExoPC. After the driver is installed then you can use the Atheros built-in adapter.

Innocent Garden [5.5g]

Sold half of my submerged UG! Now to figure how to make it grow a little shorter and more rootier, instead of bushier. :D

Roots of Evil

Not only do I have to mess with hard clay earth, but I have dig every single remaining Creeping Juniper roots and Siberian Elm saplings out. Did I mention how hard they are to get out, and back breaking of course. Ughhh!!

Ever wondered what to do with that big mess after you've mowed down your UG lawn??

Utricularia graminifolia makes a wonderful grass-like foreground in a planted aquarium. I have it mainly in my 5.5g Innocent Garden aquarium. That tank has higher light and higher concentration of CO2 being pumped in. I have placed it in my lower light aquariums, it did live, however it eventually uprooted itself and is now a floating clump exploring around the tanks. I also noticed the UG in my 5.5g stretching towards the light and can see the roots being exposed, so I thought maybe it is time to mow this baby down, to help get some more light to the bottom of the leaves.

Well if you ever mowed down a UG carpet, you know what a huge mess it makes... tons of green leafy blades just floating all over the surface of the water. And if you got some serious water circulation, this mess isn't just at the surface of the water; it's all over the tank getting caught onto other plants and equipment! I looked at these wonderful looking leaves and wondered if there was something useful I could do with them rather than netting all the leaves and just tossing them into the trash.

So I took several pinches of the mess and stuck some on top of the biomax in my Aquaclear 20. There it would stay nice and wet, and not get swept away by the current. I did notice some growth over the several weeks I had it there, and finally when I decided to clean my filter just a few days ago, I took out the Biomax and 'lo and behold the UG had indeed grew and rooted and was clinging on for dear life onto the Biomax baggie.

Well what about the rest of the leaves? Again, I didn't want to waste such nice looking leaves! Not only did I salvage those few pinches on to the filter, but I used my fish net and swept out as much of the leaves I could. I prepared a plastic container with a mix of sphagnum peat moss and sand on the bottom. I also put some lava rocks on that right corner and covered it with some peat/sand. I sprayed the peat with lots of tap water to get it moist, it sure is hard to get peat wet again after it's been dried. Well after a while I got it wet enough so I spread the UG clippings all over the peat. I also had a trimming of Limnophila aromatica so I stuck that in the opposite corner to the lava rocks. Although you do not see the L. aromatica, it has grown fairly well and needs to be trimmed since then it has reached the top and is being inhibited to grow taller by the plastic wrap!

I made sure everything was fairly moist and then covered the container with plastic wrap and stuck it next to a window for some natural sunlight since I have no spare light fixtures. I started this "project" on September 1, 2011 and today I took some pictures for my final results.

As you can see, there has been quite some growth, it looks pretty and 'wild' I think. The original trimmed leaves sent out roots which then sent out new leaves.

This is a picture of a trimmed leaf that got stuck to the wall and I was too lazy to shove it down to the dirt. As you can see, root-like structure has also formed!

So if you have a spare container, some peat and sand, and a windowsill; and want something to do with your mess of UG clippings then you can either grow them emersed, or just stick it in your filter (if you got one similar to mine) and grow some extra UG submersed! Never ending supply of UG, yay!