I went out before it really got going to clear the snow in front of the patio door…
for the last week or so it has been stuck and only opened about six inches…
seemed like a good plan to deal with it before the rain, in case it freezes into ice back there…
took quite a while and a lot of effort to get the snow moved… it was much heavier and had more chunks in it… the hill next to the deck is high again, so I’ve had to walk along the path before throwing the snow into the garden…
but, got it done… there is still tons of snow on the deck although the rain and wind and warmer weather have certainly melted some of it…
it will be interesting to see how it is going to melt, or whether there will be more than one pond in the space..
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…
next I made coffee and had a few moments to read while I waited for my friends to arrive…
we decided not long ago to meet in the afternoon when it is warmer, as we continue to meet outdoors…
one had something else on, another connected by phone… the rest of us gathered in person…
it was a beautiful day and we sat close to the pond… both pumps were turned off to make it easier to hear one another, lol…
there were lots of visitors while we were meeting… a variety of sparrows, blue jays, squirrels, a cat and we even spotted a mouse racing through the grass… the fish swam around where we could see them as well…
strange to have such warm weather, but we certainly enjoyed it…
this morning when I looked outside the sun was shining and it was a nice temperature…
but, the grass was so tall I didn’t want to go into the garden… since we’ve had a bit of rain and cooler weather it has grown like crazy and my grandsons hadn’t been able to come over and mow for me…
I decided that I would mow it myself… I did buy a lawnmower that starts easily and doesn’t have any cords for just this situation…
so, I moved furniture, mowed, whippersnipped, put furniture back, brought out cushions and finally sat down with a cup of tea to enjoy the space…
the cleaners were here today and while they were inside the house, I was in the garden on the back deck spending time with googly finding the answers to the Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers crossword that I received in an email mid-August;-)…
it was fun learning new facts about the various places where cacao grows…
herbiggirlpants 