today the three fish in the bathtub pond moved into their winter condo… one of the rocks that had been in that pond was also brought in to provide a tunnel for the fish…
the tanks have been filled and running since September 30th, although the biggest one has a lot of algae in it so these fish will be testing whether it is ready for inhabitants…
we will likely wait another week or so before moving the rest of the school…
started off with an early breakfast and quick inspection of the house to make sure everything was tidy as the cleaners were coming at nine…
it was raining out when they arrived so I headed up to the computer room to get out of their way… while there I filed paperwork, put items in a pass-along box and tidied the desk… it always surprises me how that desk can get cluttered, all by itself, lol…
as they left, Hilda the Gardener arrived for a final cleanup of the garden… pots and planters were emptied in preparation for our next season, irises were planted around the garden, and the strawberry plant went back into the ground to overwinter…
while she was here, my grandson’s grandfather arrived to work a bit on the newly drywalled sections of the basement…
as they were working inside and outside, I began bringing in the plants that will live indoors during the next few seasons and setting them up in their winter locations…
this year I have set up a few grow lights in the spot where the small fish tank had been located… it will be an interesting experiment to see how they will do in this location…
so, the inside and outside of the house are both lovely, tidy, clean and organized…
following along with taking the netting off the pond and the fish being happier, I’ve been working on their winter condo…
rarely do I clean the tanks when they head out to the pond, lol…
so, I’ve been working on emptying tanks, cleaning them and getting them set up for the big move…
this year I decided to move the small tank from the living room to the dining room credenza with the other two tanks…
the plan is to have plants on the ledge where the tank was…
to do that I had to empty the two big tanks so that I could move them along so there would be room to fit the third one in… they also were scrubbed to get most of the algae off them…
and of course the one is the same depth, but about an inch and a half shorter than the others… we found some wood in the garage that brought it up to the perfect height…
we ordered a pump to use to empty them and after waiting for it to arrive, when I used it on Saturday, it worked for about five minutes and then quit, sigh… so I filled a jug and dumped it into the toilet over and over as well as watering some of the planters outside…
I quite like how they look all together…
after nearly completely emptying them and moving them, I filled them with the outside hose… I am so happy that it extends to a hundred feet so it can do things like this…
two of the three pumps started with no problem… unfortunately, the biggest one did not… it had been giving me a bit of trouble last year so I will be heading to Nestor’s to either replace the pump or the whole system… we have had that one for many years…
once it is running, it will likely be three or four weeks to be sure the water is clean and ready, before the fish come in…
this morning, my former neighbour and friend came by, removed the front door, and took it to his house where he replaced the bottom board which had rotted…
we had put a sweep on the bottom of the door and rainwater had been going into it which caused the rot…
we stuck a table in the space, put a chair up against it on the inside, and closed the retractable screen while the door was gone…
I sat and read in the living room as it was a bit nerve racking to not have a door, lol…
and, of course, a meter reader came to the door and I had to call through the table for them to go to the back…
when the door returned a few hours later, a new sweep was put on, screwed in, and caulked so it won’t get water in and should last for as long as I do in the house, lol…
what a blessing to have friends and neighbours who can help deal with some of the issues that take place in the house…
herbiggirlpants 