last night I went out for a hot tub… I hadn’t had one for quite a while…
although cold, it was still, quiet, the sky was clear, a few stars were visible and for the first time ever, I watched the moon rise behind the cedar trees at the back of the garden… not sure if it was the time or the place the moon was in the sky…
the light moved from area to area so all I ever saw was a tiny spot through the branches… it was amazing…
and then I had the greatest sleep…
I had forgotten how relaxing my time in the tub is;-)…
there were lots of roots when I checked the glass the slips were in… I went out to the garage and brought in four pots and a pail filled with potting mix…
found a plastic container to use as a saucer and planted the 9 different pieces…
they are now on the dining room table in the light so we will see what happens…
at the same time I planted two ivy slips into a small pot which is going to sit on the bathroom window ledge…
I’ve been working on a Christmas project and was able to finish the prep for it today… I love it when things work out;-)…
I also spent time in the “garden-erie”… it now houses the majority of the plants… I trimmed orchids and watered everything…
the new light is working well and comes on in the morning and goes off after dinner…
I am trying to find just the right name to describe the space for the garden… it is right between the living and dining rooms… conservatory seems just a bit presumptuous, lol…
the garden looked so beautiful after the snow on Friday…
of course it always looks beautiful as long as you don’t have to go out into it, lol…
I had taken out the garbage bin on Thursday, even though the pickup day had moved because of Remembrance Day… I didn’t want to struggle with the snow that was coming…
good thing I did that… a lot of snow came down… the pickup ended up being on Saturday, but I didn’t have my grandson bring it in while he was here shovelling…
this morning I went out and shovelled my way to the back gate so I could bring the bin back in…
shovelling was easier and I left the garbage bin just under the cedars so it won’t get too much snow on it… I followed the path that the bunnies had made so that there should be less drifting… except I ended up with my head in the branches…
when I dug them up a while back, I put them in different containers so I would remember which was which…
I think I got them right, lol…
I’ve read a lot of blogs and watched many videos on how to overwinter the tubers… of course the information is all slightly different…
last year only one of the ones I saved was usable, so we will see what happens with this year’s batch…
each type is in a paper bag and the bags are all in a bin that will go into a cool dark place in the basement…
I’ve left a bit of soil around them and not separated any… and I should check on them a few times to be sure they aren’t getting mouldy… maybe I will be able to find the eyes better in the spring…
the weather was delightful and I spent a good portion of the day emptying and refilling the hot tub…
I got a new pump in the summer to use for removing the water from the tub… the hose was a bit on the short side, so had to use a table to get the water into the grass… it took 3 hours, including using a pail and dumping bucket after bucket… may be getting something that works a bit quicker next year;-(…
once it was empty, I ran the extendible hose up from the basement, through the screen door, over the deck, and filled the tub in just over an hour…
a few tense minutes when the electricity on the tub didn’t seem to want to start… but, at last, it started and will now be heating up for a few days…
won’t have to change the water out until Spring… glad that job is done…
I have been working on the fish condo for weeks now… spent a good portion of a day cleaning the fish tank… lots of scrubbing and emptying…
I researched a second tank and we went out and got the tank and two pumps so that they were on the ends as opposed to the back of the tanks…
after numerous measurements, we set the new tank up on the counter along the North wall of the dining room… then the bottom was filled with rocks and water and the new pump set up… this tank will be for the baby fish as the other tank won’t be able to hold all of the fish…
I worked with my grandson and we were able to move the big tank to the spot beside the small tank… it looks good there and it almost appears like one single very long tank…
after putting river rocks in it, I ran the hose from the outside tap through the house and was able to fill it up in nine minutes… it probably took me that long to fill the small one as I used a pail and walked back and forth to the kitchen sink for that one, lol…
had a bit of an issue with the pump as there wasn’t quite enough room in the large tank for it on the edge, but we were able to remove a piece of plastic and now it fits perfectly…
once the water was in and circulating for a few days we began catching the fish… we have been at it for quite a while… we started on October 22nd and today I think we caught the last one… I had to break ice for the last few collections, lol…
it was quite a process because since about the middle of October the water has been brown as leaves have fallen into it so it has made spotting fish difficult…
we also brought in some of the water lilies, which hopefully will survive until next spring when they can go back into the pond…
the tanks look great and I am pleased with all of our work…