Pond in the foothills

[sissy]

geeze here a normal septic system cost me a little over one thousand 5 hundred dollars .Now the price has gone up to 2 thousand 4 hundred dollars .My well was 450 ft deep and cost me 5 thousand dollars for every thing .Well mitch then you gotta pack up and move south pond and all . :razz: Fishies would wonder what happened .

 

[MitchM]

The sooner the better Colleen.
When the shubunkin was on its' side, I was reminded how beautiful their coloring was. I have a few large aquariums that I'm not using. It's a shame to leave them under the ice.
Maybe just a bubbler next year and the pond can be their summer vacation.

Sorry Sissy, don't think I could make it without our winters.... :razz:

 

[sissy]

Guess if you are used to it a change would be a real shock to your system .I chose VA as I could not think of going farther south where it is even hotter at least here there is some change in the seasons yet .Plus would not want to do yard work all year round so know what you mean .I lived almost 50 years in NJ and loved it but the cost to retire there was way to much for me .

 

[MitchM]

Same here, we sold our expensive house and business in the city and bought some space, peace and quiet in the country.

 

[sissy]

yeh it is nice when you are not hearing the neighbors fight or people screaming about this or that / :razz: Though every once in awhile the bull over in the field gets going or the cows start mooing .No respect I tell you .

 

[MitchM]

All we ever hear now are shots from hunters rifles or ATV's on Crown Land during long weekends.
Elk during mating season...wolves, coyotes, owls, ect...

 

[CountryEscape]

I miss the wildlife sounds I used to hear when I lived in the woods. I do like that I can go outside and holler at the dogs, and my neighbors are not close enough to hear. And, if I want to go out on my deck in pj's, I can. No one to see me, unless they use binoculars, but the only neighbor that could see me moved and her house is for sale. Totally different rules when you live in the country, that's for sure. My dogs run free, visit with the neighbors dog. Hoping when the new neighbors move in, they like dogs! My dogs think everyone wants to be their friend. And, there is something to be said about good neighbors, you know, the ones that don't stop by every other day to visit for 3 hours. LOL I have good neighbors.

 

[sissy]

got a lot of strange neighbors here .Some don't seem to like me because i am from out of state .Oh well your lose not mine .When you need help don't look at me .Though i would be dumb enough to help them . :razz:

 

[CountryEscape]

I don't call that dumb, Sissy, I call it generous. I think you would help a neighbor even if you hated them if they were truly in need. :razz:

 

[callingcolleen1]

It is good to have neighbors, some are friends, some are people we don't know, some are loud kids who bang sticks and set off little fire crackers, some are old, some are sick, and some are good.... at "live entertainment" ha ha ha! But ALL love to walk by and stare at my front flower beds, and that makes me want to make the front yard even nicer !

It is good to live outside of the city too, the fresh air, big sky and nice landscape, sunset, the bright stars and moon, and all the beauty that country life can bring ..... minus the noise of the "jungle city", and only the sound of nature.

 

[CountryEscape]

Pics are so gorgeous. You have a way of keeping your gardens simple and yet elegant, Colleen. I am going to try to do some copying of your style this year. I need to redo lots of my flower beds. I love how you have one or two plants in each area, lots of open space on the ground, so there's lots of dimension to the plant itself. My beds tend to get too crowded and messy looking.
I need more rocks, too.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Thank you, I am very flattered that you are going to try out my gardening style. I love my rocks and try to sculpt the land with natural materials, rocks look best nice when they are not lost in the flowers. I too hate when my beds start to get overgrown and the shape of the land becomes lost, however overcrowding can also be nice in certain areas that you may not have time to work over, or to hide a old fence or something. The area out front has a side walk and I hate when the side walk gets overgrown and then things reach out and grab people.

Tomorrow is the first day of April, which reminds me the collection of yard waste will begin for me on the 17th of April.... wish it was the first week of April instead, cause by yard waste bin is full already! If I lived in the country, I could just make a big heap behind an old barn or somewhere. So much to do, so little time .....

 

[CountryEscape]

Yes, in the country, I just make a pile of the clippings and old parts of plants, and let it compost. I throw it in the pasture where the cows will be later this spring or early summer. So far grass is not growing here, and until it is growing well, and getting tall, the cows don't get to come. I want them to have a nice pasture when they get here. Plus, I seeded the pastures, so want that seed to get a chance to sprout and a good start before letting the horses out into their pasture either. Soon, hopefully by the end of May it will be growing well.

 

[MitchM]

With the ice receding some more, I saw and removed 2 dead 7" koi today. I'm not totally surprised, but certainly disappointed.
One koi looked like it had died quite a while ago, the body was almost a half empty shell covered in white fungus and the other was still a plump body, but still quite covered in white fungus.
Both were floating just under the ice.
The last time I saw all the fish was middle of last October I think, when the water was cooling down and they were staying near the bottom.

Water parameters:
Temp 42.4F
PH 7.6+ (API test kit top of it's range)
KH 143 ppm (I measure for dkh, and that's the conversion from 8, using an Elos test kit)
NH3 0

Ambient temperature got up to 16.2C/61F today, but it looks like there is another few days of freezing temperatures and maybe snow on the way.

I'm a little surprised at how high the PH/KH is because I only half filled the pond with well water last May, the other half with rain water. There has been enough rain and snow since then to completely displace what well water was used. I've never tested the water from snow. I guess that's next.

..and a picture of the pond today:

 

[j.w]

That's too bad Mitch.........do you see any live ones in there yet?