on Friday I rearranged the lawn furniture so there was a bit more space on the back deck…
on Saturday, I took the netting off the pond… it was doing a good job of collecting the leaves although the weight of them had it sinking into the water…
the fish weren’t moving around as much as usual, the birds weren’t drinking or bathing and I didn’t like the look of it…
next year when it goes down, I will put some thin boards over the top so that it doesn’t slip into the fishes’ domain…
now, the fish, the birds, and I are much happier, lol…
finally got the net down to protect the pond from all the falling leaves…
we ordered netting online awhile ago and I had some landscape pins which we used to fasten it around the pond… I had to remove ones that were holding down a drip hose around the main deck because I have managed to misplace the box which has at least twenty-five more pins in it, sigh…
it was an interesting process as we figured out the best spots to attach it… my housemate did most of the work, but I did help…
so happy that we can still traverse the bridge without having to walk on the net…
it is the perfect length so that we didn’t have to go back and forth across the water to cover the whole thing… it doesn’t even look too bad…
and, of course, since then, hardly any leaves have fallen, lol…
a few weeks ago a friend brought me some koi that a neighbour had given her for me… they are a fair bit smaller than the goldfish, but I anticipate they will grow quickly…
I’ve never had (or wanted) koi, so it will be interesting to see how it goes… this photo shows one of them (mainly black and white) amongst the much larger goldfish…
my fish are fairly tough… they don’t get any special treatment so we will see how the koi manage in that environment;-)…
on Tuesday we counted twenty monarch caterpillars on the milkweed in the garden…
they were all over the newest batch that was recently planted and have nearly decimated all the leaves…
they were also on the ones near the waterfall which were planted last summer… we’ve now taken out all the poppies so there is more room to be able to see the caterpillars…
there were none on the ones from last year which were located around the edge of the pond… these were the ones that I planted in a spot where I could see and photograph any butterflies, eggs and caterpillars that came along, lol…
there were some chives next to them so when Hilda the Gardener was here the other day I had her take them out… maybe the butterflies don’t like the smell…
yesterday I went into the pond to take out the small pump and clean it…
it was very dirty, ugh… the process of getting in and out of the pond involves a chair, towel, watershoes, and this time, a bucket to put the bits that needed to be cleaned…
then I used the hose to clean everything… dirty business, lol…
after I put the pump back, it was working better, but not as well I was hoping for…
and I cleaned out the main pump while I was in there;-)… glad that job is done…
this morning I started my day with a wander around the gardens…
I started with the vegetable garden and checked on the two tomatoes, miriad of peas, beans, and the couple of cucumbers that appear to have made a go of it…
the cucumber and butternut squash seeds have yet to reach the surface…
the columbines are getting ready to flower and it appears that the ones with double petals are happy in their new location along the house…
the dahlias are growing taller every day and the ivy slips from the house are holding their own…
next I checked out the pond garden, where the irises are blooming and the poppies are raising their heads slowly to get set to open… I had to detour back around the deck so that I didn’t brush against any of them… the hanging baskets are filling with flowers as they recover from the hail storm…
the petunias around the deck look good, but I need to find a way to raise up the new planter boxes as they are just a tiny bit too narrow…
the begonia and orchid in the back shady area seem to be doing well and the pansies by the bathtub pond are growing nicely…
the hibiscus is still in the shade since coming outside recently and the begonias and verbena are happy… sadly the pansies in between them are not doing well…the strawberry pot and dahlia next to the back door look excellent as do the morning glories as they come up…
on the deck the mandevilla seems content in its new location and the clematis continues to wind its way up the obelisk… the lobelia and alyssum on the table are doing very well…
after that lovely stroll, I brought out all the cushions, uncovered the deck chairs, and sat with my tea and read some of my book as the birds sang their morning welcome;-)…
herbiggirlpants 