Here I am...still posting the pics!

I am continuing the arguous task of posting pictures of my seahorses, who, in case you have any doubt...I love!

Being totally computer illiterate, every photo I post feels like I'm posting pictures for the first time!

A~~~~~Dahhhhhhhhhh......

Update! Seahorse Photos...

All this time, I have been posting photos to my posts!

Enjoy the few below...
And just imagine!
I am still at it!
Just think of all the joy you'll get out of it!

Keep Blogging!

Josephine

Just to mention...the 3 photos have more of an artistic bent to them.
I observed the seahorses after dark and had to capture their beauty when the lights were out!

God's magnificent creatures!

Never mind -WHERE AM I? WHERE ARE YOU????

Can it really be September 2012 already?
Yup...it is!
If you are wondering where I've been, I have been~~>> "learning" how to post photos of my beloved seahorses.

Instructions in hand, I am S~~L~~O~~W~~L~~Y~~
beginning to post photos.
I began with my one of my first posts about the
CROWN OF ROYALTY possessed by every seahorse and unique only to them.

My plan is to make a dent in the photo postings...
AND THEN...
find victims...
Oops...
NO, NO...
find readers for my blog.

My goals are ~
to find comrades who also love seahorses,
to get comrades interested in seahorses;
not only for them to dedicate themselves as having them as pets, I mean, that would be very cool...
but also to also create awareness about how endangered these docile, loving, intelligent, mystical, amazing creatures are.

Look for new posts here and there...
but not everywhere!

In addition to that, I will try to add to my profile which is presently pretty blank!

Okay...lovers of seahorses and potential seahorse lovers,
(where ever you might be in this big globe of ours...
we are global you know!)

I'm hitting my photo gallery to better enhance the blog, make it more interesting...
So, it will be your blog too!

God Bless...us all!

Hey, here is an update!
The date is January 3, 2013!
YES!!!!!!!
2013!!!!!

So happy,healthy, blessed,and prosperous New Year for us all!
And...
May all our dreams come true!

Yeah...you are well aware of my dream...
Its to get some folks reading my blog and commenting!
Soon I will be to the point of having enough posts with photos that I'll somehow, someway get my word out about:
SEAHORSE TALK 101...

Going to bed....
Returning tomorrow to post some shots of my babies!!!!!!

God bless us all!

Never give up!
It will happen!

To My Fan Club of ZERO....Let's thank Tommy!!!!

To all of my readers....
That is...
To all ZERO of you...
I am in the process of learning how to put my seahorse photos up on my blog...
Not an easy task when you consider I am computer illiterate and that the person attempting to educate me is a Computer Aficionado!
That person would be "the brother I never had"~~
My brother in law Tommy...
Its a monumental task for him...
But we are at it day and night....
with no success on my part, I might add!
So my phantom seahorse fans of my blog...
DO NOT despair!
The photos...they are a comin'...
(ummmm...just don't hold your breathe,
all you non~existent voracious readers!)

Thanks!
Let's keep on bloggin'
well...I will even if you don't!

I do hold out the hope that you will find me....

Today is January 1, 2013!
I have learned how to add photos to my blog...
I have yet to master how to get the word out that my blog about my beautiful seahorses exists...
AND...
Most IMPORTANTLY...
How to get some followers!!!!

Just as in 2012, I will keep on bloggin' in the new year!

May all your dreams come true!

Here are some shots of my patient, wonderful, loving BROTHER in law!
And some family shots thrown in for good measure....
WHY NOT!?!?!?!

My "brother" in law Tommy and my sister Janice...
When Tommy married Janice, he got me as part of the "package deal!"

My son, Tommy and I on Block Island, RI.

My "brother" in law, Tommy, on Sailor's Haven, Fire Island, NY.

My daughter, Alexandra and I.

Me...in Montauk, N.Y.

Me, after playing on a sand bar by Democrat Point by the Fire Island Inlet, N.Y.

Picking up my "brother" in law in Oakdale Yacht, Oakdale, N.Y.
Sorry about the "side ways" photo...that "rotation feature" I have yet to master!
Oyi Vey!!!!!

My husband, Bob and I, at the Blues Festival in Riverhead, N.Y.
My friends, in the band, Johnny Zarrow, gave an outstanding performance.
And yes...I visited the Atlantis Aquarium there to ouuuu and ahhhhh
over their seahorses!!!!!

Jezabel Valentina and Shy Sweetheart and Seahorse Source

Yes..I know...
There are two other seahorses in my home that I have barely even mentioned...
One is my very shy Sweetheart,
named by my granddaughter, Jen.
Soon after, I discovered she to be a he.
So what!
The name does actually suit him just fine!
It is his personality that actually makes him the sweetheart that he is!

For the most part, Sweetheart hangs and hitches in one area of the tank.
Look over at the filter intake pipe and there's Sweetheart, holding on for dear life.
And...that's where he remains,rarely moving from that spot!
Having had other seahorses who looked so much like Sweetheart, it is clearly a character trait of that seahorse type. 

Sweetheart, and every other one of my seahorses resembling him, become very, very extremely frightened when the lights are turned off at "bedtime."

Having finished "dining" by 8 p.m. the latest, the Seahorses put on their pajamas.

They go to their "comfort zone" bed areas and hitch.

Once I see that they have "settled in" with eyes glazed over and bodies pale, grayish, even transparent, its time for "lights out"....

That's usually anywhere from 11 p.m.~~>>12'ish.

Of course, you'll remember, that Hoover's bed will be vacated soon after lights go out.
In his "trance~like state" he'll wander around and around the tank, often bumping into the glass. 
Then, he continues on and on and on....
Until such time as he has had enough.
Then its off to his "spot" and off to slumber he goes...
Again, its only a temporary pause for Hoover...

But I digress...

Now, you must understand that at the moment of
"lights out", technically, all lights are not out!
The remaining lighting I do leave on are the equivalent to a child sleeping with not one, but TWO nightlights on in their bedroom.

Of course, I say "goodnight" to my brood and we say a little prayer and kisses are exchanged...
YES, I did say exchanged as my babies are in a routine and...
YES, seahorses are trainable!

Knowing Sweetheart's seahorse type, I am aware that she will totally freak out!
Initially, the startled behavior had her rotund, massive, heavy body catapult off her hitching post.
Like a stealth rocket, she energetically shot herself off into the watery abyss.
The one characteristic of the ever slow moving seahorse is forever put to rest!

It is only over time that I can reassure Sweetheart and nudge her into a less violent response to "lights out."

The "nudging" I refer to could get me committed instantly...
With my face and lips pressed against the glass where Sweetheart is resting I am verbally consoling her and kissing her,fogging up the glass with my warm breathe, I put my hand on the another side of the glass in order to "pet" her... 
Then, with my free hand, I reach around feeling for the light switch.

It has taken weeks for Sweetheart's overreaction to that exact moment of "lights out" to calm a bit.
The most he'll do now at that nano~second, is duck her head into her body, seemingly crouching down and over.
If Sweetheart is fast asleep in that moment, she will remain pale...translucent...and frozen in time... 

Now we will move on to my VALENTINA!!!
I got Valentina from my friends, Abby and Dan,
owners of "Seahorse Source" located on
Florida's West Coast.
They raise domestically bred seahorses...
In other words, they have the ability to breed seahorses!
And that is all they do! It is their grass roots, home based business.
They have dreams of opening a Seahorse Aquarium one day! Imagine that! How wonderfully awesome would that be?
If I ever made it big or won lotto, I'd be their financial backer for sure. It is on my bucket list to one day travel to their place and meet them. We have become great friends over the years, through the love of seahorses. They have mentored me and made themselves available to me, without reluctance, anytime I've phoned them.  
How many times both Abby and Dan have had to literally "talk me off the ceiling" as I freaked out about a seahorse problem I was experiencing. Always cool and calm, they gave me solid solutions and advised me...
even when the advice was not what I wanted to hear....
PLEASE!!!!!
Check out their website:
SEAHORSE SOURCE
Its INCREDIBLE!!!!!

But again...
I digress...

Around Valentine's Day 2010, Seahorse Source sent me a tiny, beautiful, little girl seahorse.
Thus, Valentina was born to me...

Hoover and Sweetheart are the men of the tank.

Dispite the fact that Valentina should pick one of them as her FULL~TIME life partner, Valentina "plays " them both.
Yes, she is a big flirt!
Hoover will allow her to tease him for only short periods of time. Believing he has ADD, he wonders off, seemingly forgetting he was just being "messed with"...
The is simply who Hoover is!

With Sweetheart though, there is a more serious flirtation between he and Valentina...

In a future post, I will go into the courtship ritual I have observed. It is fascinating and nothing short of one of the  miracle behaviors that is exclusively "seahorse"...





Sweetheart



Sweetheart



Valentina



Valentina

Hoover : The One and Only!!!!

Now and then there is no live Brine to be found...ANYWHERE!
"The Pet Den" in Commack, New York has
the reputation of carrying what
no other pet shops would ever even think of stocking.
To describe Denise and Maurice as "exotic" purchasers
would be an understatement!

However, now and then the live brine is not delivered.
When that occurs I switch my spoiled seahorses
to frozen brine.
Sweetheart and Valentina tolerate it...
But Hoover...
The way he recoiled at one time with the
live brine is exactly what he does with the frozen brine.
My Hoover runs from it!

Once the live brine shrimp arrives I observe Hoover's behavior once more...
Amazingly, he squirrels away the live brine in his mouth.
He quickly realizes that the live brine are actually plentiful.
Hoarding his delicacy in his snout is no longer necessary.
The light bulb goes off and out fly a minimum of 16 brine he has practically been choking on!

I ask!
Instinct?
OR :
A level of intelligence?

After reading my posts there is no doubt as to what my opinion is!

The following photos are not so great...
They show...
or sort of show...
the seahorses...
especially my Hoover, eyeing and eating the brine.

I will try to get better photos at some point I am trying to go through my posts and make sure they all have photos...
And...
That they are spell checked...
And that they make some sort of readable sense!

Thanks for your patience my:
FAN BASE OF ZERO~~~OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

OK folks!
Its December 14 th, 2012 and I TRIED to get better photos of my seahorses eating...no dining on brine...
I SAID I TRIED!!!!!!
Check out the last 5 photos...

Hoover's Night Moves

So, figure breakfast is served by 10 a.m. and lasts till 12 noon~~
maybe even 12:30...depending on how much brine is consumed over that time period.
The Seahorses are known to leisurely "hunt and peck", looking for the most delectable bring morsels...
and never hesitating to spit out less tasty bits.

Wondering why I don't feed them earlier?
Its because they are on my schedule. And being I'm such a poor sleeper...their 1st meal of the day can be considered more of a brunch.

Wondering what they do in the morning?
Believe it or not~~they are on my schedule!
Around 8 a.m. they begin to yawn and stretch...sneeze and cough...
And do the "morning greeting" where tails are joined and snouts are lowered and touch creating an adorable, precious heart shape.

Slowly they begin to move around the tank and discover some stray brine caught in the leaves or wiggling around the coral rock.

Lots of "sniffing" goes on between the Seahorses 

The Seahorses will play, dragging each other around,
tails grabbing tails and also grabbing snouts followed by violent shakes to make an escape.

Affection also abounds as Valentina bumps and grinds with
Hoover Vacuum and then with Abby Road Vin Diesel.
Courtships are merely short flirtations as Valentina is quite the Jezebel!

Dinner is served about 5 p.m. till 7:30 p.m.
After dinner, at around 8p.m., its lights out, pajamas on and
familiar positions are taken.

At midnight, I go to the tank one last time.
My babies are tucked in and all is right with their world.

By 5 minutes after midnight, Hoover begins his 
"night moves" like clock work!
I walk by the tank for one final "baby check".
Valentina, and Sweetheart are "in position" for the night.
Eyes "fixed" they are in Seahorse Dreamland"...
BUT.....
Gracefully swimming around and around the top of the
tank is my Hoover Vacuum! Total opposite from his day
behavior I observe a seahorse that I barely recognize!
Tail no longer dragging on rough coral.
Herky~Jerky moves  nonexistent.
Fetal positioning  nowhere to be found.
Eyes no longer going in a million directions.
Nerves calm and body relaxed.

Hoover Vacuum floats seamlessly up and down.
In a ballerina dance of grace and smoothness,
Hoover glides around and around the tank.
He is in a trance~like state.
As he moves, he is a softened wave ebbing and flowing.
Hoover's fins make no ripple whatsoever.

I pet Hoover through the glass.
He glides over to me and and remains stationary
as I stroke the long length of his vertical body.

Then he continues on his round the tank journey.
He finally comes to rest on the air hose...
and sleeps...

Good night my sweet Hoover Vacuum!
You are a treasure who has morphed since I first brought you home.
You remain a mystery in so many ways!
I love you my beautiful boy!


In all the following photos, I tried to capture the ease in which Hoover makes his way around the tank every night.
He stays on the tank's top never to be seen dragging his tail around the bottom of the tank the way he does all day long....
Love you, my sweet good~willed seahorse, Hoover!