this morning I finally got around to sorting out a working pump for the bathtub pond…
I had switched the two pumps between the main pond and the bathtub, but not long after that change the pump in the tub stopped working completely…
and because there are no fish in that pond, the chance of mosquito larvae growing in it was a problem…
happily, the first extra pump I came across worked, although it didn’t have a piece extending out of the water… luckily that doesn’t matter as the water just needs to move to ensure no larvae can survive…
Friday was a delightful day… the sun shone and the temperature rose to 25°C…
throughout the day, I prepped for a dinner party… between organizing and setting the table on the deck, there were plenty of opportunities to sit, read, and relax…
preparing a space or food for special people is always enjoyable for me as I think about those who I am doing this work for and how important they are to me…
for this gathering, it was mainly about making the space comfortable and considering what dishes we would need as the food was being picked up from a Charleswood Rotary fundraiser…
they provided a whole lobster, baked potato, fresh bun, coleslaw, brownie, small bottle of wine, with a bib and a lobster fork;-)… each person received a shopping bag with all of the goodies in it… I added a few fixings for the potatoes, warm facecloths with lemon for our fingers, and garlic butter in warmers…
once the food was warmed up, we had a lesson in how to eat the whole crustacean… I was a bit slow, lol, so had to keep having information repeated…
the weather was perfect, well, except that the wind kept blowing out some of the butter warmers… lots of conversation and story telling kept us busy throughout the meal…
my housemate took the requisite group photo which he was happy to do (and not be in) before we spent time around the pond…
happily, the fish came out for a short visit before returning to their favourite spot under the bridge…
and before you knew it, everyone headed off into the sunset;-)…
the pond has continued to leak but we thought we had the problem figured out…
water seemed to be puddling under a UV clarifier which was installed in the pond at the beginning, but which never accomplished its job and has been unplugged for a number of years…
we picked up a piece to connect the two hoses together and with a lot of cutting and muscle, were able to disconnect it entirely… so happy, thinking the problem had been solved…
turned the pump back on and watched water still coming out where the hose goes under blocks and the deck…
so, the issue appears to be that the six or seven feet of hose from the pump to the waterfall needs to be replaced… we are considering ways to accomplish this, which may involve removing a good sized piece of the deck to get at it, sigh…
recently we purchased some feeder fish and popped them into the pond… they vanished under the bridge and weren’t seen again, lol…
a few days ago, the fish were caught and brought out to the pond from their indoor condo … my housemate has very little trouble catching them in the tanks…
once the pail was outside, he waited patiently for me to get out there to take the before, during, and after photos, lol…
they, too, went right under the bridge, but by the next afternoon, they were swimming all around the pond and enjoying a snack…
started working on the pond on May 3rd… it is a big job…
brought out the pond pump and removed as much water as possible… aimed the hose towards the cedars to give them a good soaking…
the waterfall area has to be done separately, after I removed the two floating planters…
then I left it so that the leaves and twigs could dry out a bit before removing them…
the next day, the wetvac came out and it removed quite a few leaves, and a few rocks, lol…
next I got into the pond and picked out the majority of the last leaves in the dry areas… that evening, my housemate finished draining the waterfall area and cleaned up debris from the bottom of the pond…
on the 9th, we obtained the foam to fill the spaces between the rocks so the fish won’t be able to hide when we are trying to catch them in the fall, lol…
rearranging and foaming the rocks took two days of concentrated work and it was hot out…
Sunday, May 11, the pumps were in, the necessary rocks have been foamed, a few flower pots have been added for fish to hide in and now we wait for the foam to cure so the water can go in…
this afternoon the pond was filled, woohoo… excited to watch the first of the water enter, using a dedicated hose which goes right into it… took an hour and a half to fill the bottom portion and just under thirty minutes to fill the waterfall area… that had to be done with the regular hose, as it isn’t connected to the lower area unless the waterfall is running…
it will be a few weeks of it running before the fish make their way from the winter condo;-)…
unfortunately, the plugs on the post near the pond are not working, so for now I am using an extension cord to provide electricity to the two pond pumps… always something, lol…
trying to decide how to change up the garden this year…
so far nothing much is happening, as we haven’t brought out the last bits and pieces of furniture…
washed down a few of the chairs and am trying one of them between the gate and garage door so I can have a good view of the pond and the bird feeders… not sure if this will work as the chair is quite wide;-)…
once the furniture and umbrellas are in place, there will need to be decisions made about where plants and pots will go…
herbiggirlpants 