Pond in Southern Illinois

[Sheetmetalman]

Here are a couple of nightime pictures of the pond / patio area with my new solar lights installed. Over the years I have bought a lot of solar lights in a range of $4 to $10 a piece and had mixed results with them--the other day I was in our new Dollar Tree Store and they had these lights for a buck a piece--nothing fancy BUT they work, every one, even after the rain storm we had--so I went and bought 25 more and placed them along my brick sidewalks and the pond and patio. Heck for a Buck you cant beat it, the rechargeable battery in it is worth that.

 

[CountryEscape]

Oh my, you are so right, Tim! Those look fantastic, and if they only last a year, they were well worth the dollar!!! I only have a Dollar General around here ... heading to St. Louis today, never know what a person finds there!

 

[taherrmann4]

That surprises me a bit that you can get solar to work that well with the amount of shade you have. How long do they stay on for?

 

[Sheetmetalman]

Thats true, Patti, if I get thru till cold weather with them thats OK--I want to eventually run 110 v power all around my patio so I will probably change to a different lighting system when I do. Ive been wanting to run power for some time both around the pond the patio and the back deck we built a couple years ago but its the same old battle when I have the time I dont have the money or VisaVersa, or if I have both its just not as high up my Priority list as other projects, lol, I just figure oh well I'm not in a race with anybody and I will get it done someday. Right now my biggest priority is getting my pontoon to run right. I knew I needed to put new sparkplugs on it this year so I replaced them before putting it in the lake and its ran like crap ever since--yesterday at a boat dealer I talked to the mechanic about it, he told me that the plugs I bought at Autozone that were supposed to cross reference over to be the same as my Mercury plugs couldnt be because Mercurys plugs are designed just for my Mercury Optimax and autozone is full of $h#t if they said theirs were the same, he laughed when I said I bought all 3 for $14 bucks--I wasnt laughing after paying $90 bucks to him for all 3 then, but after changing a vapor filter for 50 bucks 2 weeks ago(which did need changed it turned out) adding a second auxzillary filter(which I probably didnt need) changing all the old gas out of my tank, then adding injector cleaners and seafoam out the wahzoo --if this fixes it I will be happy since the alternative is to yank the boat and take it to the dealer. Sorry for the Rant everybody but I have a LOVE/HATE relationship with my boat, anyway back to ponds and gardens, which are a lot less stressfull, LOL. To your question Tmann, not long--they usually start dying about midnight--but thats OK, thats about as late as we sit out by the Fire Pit.

 

[CountryEscape]

Well, boat problems hopefully will be fixed with your parts, and now you have learned about that! As far as the lights, I have full sunshine (until about 4-5 p.m. in the summer) and I know my lights don't stay on all night either, but probably longer than yours. I always watch for sales on them, and pick up more each time they go on clearance. I really want more underwater lights, and that is my goal now by next weekend, if possible, as my daughter is coming home then my mom the following weekend. I want some in the stream and others in the waterfall. Could be I'll use my set of 3 on the stream, 2 in the stream, the 3rd under the waterfall in the goldfish pond. Then buy another string that I can use in the waterfall of the koi pond (2 in the waterfall, one in the pool at the base) and the rest in the koi pond along the sides and under the waterfall. I love lights, and think it really dresses up the water at night. Just need to fork out the money and DO IT!!!

 

[Sheetmetalman]

Well I took a half day Vacation from work just to relax but I ended up finishing the plant Island (Pecan's Ponds Idea--Thanks) I intended to make it bigger but when I got set to glue 2 pieces of 3'4 inch Insulation together I made a mistake. I was gonna use caulk to glue the 2 pieces but then I saw some contact glue I had and decided to use that instead. My mistake was pouring it on the pink styrofoam without checking its compatability--it ate the strofoam like ACID,(see the pic) should have known better since I was an Industrial Insulator/ Sheetmetal worker for 7 years, oh well, you live and learn. Upshot of the whole ordeal was I didnt have enough Insulation to make my Island as big as I wanted, so it floats --but just barely with the plant pots on it--may make a new one later a little bigger for more pots and a bigger water fountain, but this one works for now--and its easy for the frogs to climb up on.

 

[Sheetmetalman]

Here it is with the fountain on

 

[Sheetmetalman]

Just some random pond/patio Pics

 

[addy1]

very nice island and pond and everything

 

[Sheetmetalman]

The weather started so good this year after a mild winter that these 2 trees I planted between the Pond and my driveway last year have really took off and grown like crazy the first was a Thundercloud Purple Plum from Lowes and the second was a redbud we dug up in the timber on our farm--happy with both of them--just hope the 15 trees I planted this year do as well by next year

 

[sissy]

I have one of those plums and was told it does not get fruit and mine gets fruit every year

 

[sissy]

I dug up my hosta's again today and got 6 more new plants .

 

[koiguy1969]

lookin good

 

[Sheetmetalman]

Thanks Everybody

 

[CometKeith]

Sheetmetalman, Really nice pond and waterfall. I like all the plants and trees around it.