I'm still here!

It would appear I've taken about 8 weeks off from blog posting.  My OH my how the time does fly.

Since the last post of October 30 I have been spending a lot of time sitting on my butt but (get it?) I have accomplished a few things.  Very few.

Denver:
I took a trip to Denver where I met up with #1 son and #1 daughter but actually my daughter is 9 but it gets confusing... her nickname is 9 but she is really #1 daughter to me.  Anyway, while in Denver we all got together  and fixed my son's bathroom door.  The door stuck in the upper right corner (unless you were standing on the other side of the door which would have been the upper left corner) and one couldn't get much privacy when using the facilities.  It was great fun fixing a door by committee.  I ran the reciprocating saw, Kirk abused the wood with the hammer and Janine was in charge of the pneumatic nail gun.

The door jamb now sports a distressed motif.  The reciprocating saw sometimes went it's own way... Kirk hit the nails on the head every now and then... Janine did well with the nail gun except when doing angle shots.  With the help of caulk and paint and sanding and maybe some luck it will look just great.  It was sure fun though.

The door now closes and opens properly so we will call this project a unqualified success.

Pond Pump:
It's been 8 weeks and the only water in the pump pit was from watering the trees (yep, we water trees in the winter unless it's been snowing).  I did have a bit of a go-around with a mouse however.  This little guy wanted to make the warm pump pit his home.  Normally I wouldn't have a problem with that except they crap all over the place and eat wires and stuff like that.  So I put poison in there... something I'm not real happy about but there are just some places these little guys aren't welcome and my pump pit is one of them.  So A week or so after the last installation of the pump I checked the pit and found 2 dead mice.  I removed them from the pit and disposed of them according to natures way... yep, I tossed 'em over the fence.  Then about a week later I looked in the pump pit and there was this little mouse curled up and I thought it was dead.  Heck, it didn't move when I lifted the fake rock.  When I reached in to remove the little guy he jumped and I jumped and he ran around and I said a dirty word. Glad the granddaughter wasn't here as she would have fallen to the ground laughing at her grampa. Whew... that got my heart a-pump'n.  The next day I checked the pump pit again and here he was all curled up just like the day before.  I tentatively nudged him with my finger and he didn't move and sure enough he had made the trip to mouse heaven..

There have been no visitors of the mousy kind since then so apparently the word is out about the pump pit.  I still check now and then.

Hawks:
I have only spied 1 hawk in our backyard so far this season.  The winter has been very mild compared to previous and I'm blaming the weather for not bringing in the hawks.  We may get a winter yet but so far we have only had one snow and it wasn't anything to write about.

I'll also blame the weather for not updating this blog for 8 weeks. I have no real reason to do so but...

Christmas is near and then New Years and then we start all over.  Ain't it grand.  Merry Christmas y'all.

whoohoo
 

Thar She Flows

Once again the pond is operational.

I have been away for 8 days and upon my return to Red Tail Ridge I found a large box on the front step and sure enough the rejuvenated and reworked pond pump was inside. I couldn't wait to get things flowing again so I re-installed the pump into the pump pit.

Of course nothing is done without a little angst and just to make sure I was alive and kick'n I managed to turn on the pump prior to closing a valve so I was bathed in pond water... cold, cold pond water.  I am happy to report that I didn't get wet from my knees down.

I checked the pump pit after dinner and did not detect any signs of leakage.  With about 3 hours of operation under my belt the pump is working perfectly.  I certainly hope I don't have to retract the "working perfectly" part of that statement.

I have noticed the mice seem to think the pump pit is their very own lodge to idle away the long winter nights.  The mice would not be so bad if they didn't crap all over the place. One would think that snake I saw earlier in the pump pit would keep the mice away but it isn't obvious.  I suppose the snake is already sleeping away for the duration of the cold months.

I've resorted to excessive force in regard to the mice in the form of poison. I hope there isn't any collateral damage to other creatures.  On the positive side I haven't put out the sticky stuff that the mice walk on and can't walk off... seems like a terrible way to go.

I'll be watching the pump pit and it's occupants and report anything interesting.

Whoohoo!

Retraction of the Retraction of the Pond Pump Retraction

This is starting to sound like some kind of soap opera.

In a nutshell here is what's going on:

First
I bought a new pump for my pond back in August. I dug out the dirt under the fake rock and installed the pump in what is now called the Pump Pit.  Five days following the gala switch flipping ceremony the damn pump started leaking.

Then
The company stood by their product and sent me new seals for the pump... a $30.00 value. I installed the seals and re-installed the pump.  All was well with the world once again.

A few days ago
I purchased and installed a water alarm. The alarm is supposed to detect water and sound a loud alarm if said detection resulted in a positive answer versus the desired negative answer (ya see, negative is sometimes positive... got that?).  This morning the alarm did go off and woke me from a sound sleep.  I dressed and grabbed my jacket and headed for the pump pit. I looked inside but couldn't see any water.  I said, "Damn cheap ass alarm!" I stomped back into the house.  Oh, did I tell you it was dark outside.... no? Well, later I went out to the pump pit to re-position the sensor for the water alarm... would you believe that damn pump was leaking again? You should believe it because there was about an inch of water in the bottom of the pump pit.  I apologized to the alarm for my hasty judgement at 00:dark:30.

Now
As in today, I once again contacted the nice pump folks in Oregon. We decided that since this is the second failure of the pump for something that is supposed to last "at least" 4-5 years that something else must be causing the seals to leak. I had to ship the pump back to Oregon. Why I saved that heavy duty box the pump arrived in I can't say but I'm sure glad I did. I got it all packed up and over to UPS and it's on it's way.  I sure hope they find what's wrong and resolve this issue once and for all.  Maybe I won't run the pump this winter... maybe I won't have a pump to run!!!  Nah... can't even think that way.

The jury is still out on what mysterious disease the pump has that causes it's to leak all over the pump pit.  I hope the nice guys in Oregon are up to the challenge.

A silent whoohoo.

Just 'Cuz It's Purddy

I thought these pictures of stone-crop sedum was just kind to my eyes and wanted to show y'all.

The plant resides in my hypertufa pot... That was fun to make.  I think the fall colors are spectacular and with the green in there it gives promise of spring which is only 5 or 6 months away.

I look forward to each season... while I enjoy some better than others I enjoy each and every one.

Whoohoo!

Yard Art (?)

Have you ever been to one of those places where some inspired person breaks out the welder and makes dinosaurs or space ships and the like out of discarded junk?  If your like me when you look at some of this stuff you wonder, "how can people come up with this from that?"  I do enjoy those places and I am always awed by the creativity.

Along this line, we went to the downtown area with my sister in tow to show her the sights and visit the flea markets that try to pass themselves off as antique dealers.  It's always fun to look and see. One of the unique things about Grand Junction is they have a lot of art on display in town.  The city contracts with artists to display their creations for so many years.  It's cool and entertaining.

My wife and my sister were cruising the main drag and spied a creation that had a lot of rebar forming a column and the inside of the column was filled with rock.  I would have named it something like "Rocks Stacked Inside a Rebar Column."  Anyway, they saw this and challenged me to make something for the backyard that was made of rock and was vertical.

I have to say I can't believe I haven't shared this with my fan!  I was reviewing my blog this afternoon and noted my omission.  In a effort to rectify that gaff here is my big gee-whiz for yard art.  Seems to me this creation leaves a lot of room on the creativity side of the equation.  I wouldn't expect to see much more of this around our place!

Do you see a face in the top rock?  I do and it reminds me of some ex-boxer that just
didn't get out of the ring soon enough.  How 'bout that "cone-head!"

Sometimes you just have to let your imagination go... go far, far away....

Whoohoo... don't ya love it?

Sunflowers

I reported on sunflowers around this time last year (click here see that post) and again this year I have some pictures of different helianthus annuus flowers but they are from the same plant.

I think one of the reasons I'm somewhat fascinated with the sunflowers is that they represent one of the last flowers to blossom before the onset of winter like weather.  They track the sun from rise to set as if to revel in it's warmth.  Of course it won't be long now before the first hard freeze is upon us and all the plants will hunker down to await spring.

Enough romancing.  Here are the pictures I took as the sunflowers developed into their glorious display:

No sunflowers here. This picture was taken September 22nd.

This picture was taken September 27th.

This picture was taken on September 30th.

Into it's glory!
Notice the mum with it's burgandy colored flowers.
The mum also is a late bloomer like the sunflowers.
This picture was taken this morning, October 2nd.

 

Don't forget you can click on these pictures and view them in their original size.

Happy Fall!

Whoohoo!!

Picture of the Rare Black Goldfish

I've spoken about the black goldfish that is hard to see, shy and elusive. This afternoon I was crossing the bridge pond (yep, I used the bridge) when low and behold I spied this elusive creature.

I took about 10 pictures of "Blackie" and this is the best one. For your viewing pleasure:

Of course it's hard to see even though Blackie is the largest fish in the pond!  It wouldn't be elusive if it was as bright as the orange goldfish.  If your having trouble spotting Blackie s/he is just above the tail of the orange goldfish. Blackie has it's head under a rock and it's belly is a pale orange almost a gold color.  Hmmm, imagine... a gold goldfish :-)

Gourd Harvest

It clearly states in the Gourd Instruction Manual (GIM) that all gourds must be harvested PRIOR to the first freeze. GIM further states that if the gourds are allowed to be damaged by a freeze they will DIE!

With these dire warnings in mind as well as the decline of the vim, vigor and vitality of the gourd vines, we decided it was time to harvest the fruit of this years labor... not counting tomatoes.

This is the last picture (taken in September 22, 2011) of the gourd trellis.  The leaves are wilting and many have
turned into crispy critters.  Clearly the vine was well past it's prime.

 GIM also states when you harvest gourds you should treat them gently to avoid bruising which may also make them DIE!  Once harvested they need to be washed in a vinegar and water solution... failure to wash them may make the DIE!  Once the gourds have been gently harvested and washed they need to be brought inside the house for about a week.  Failure to bring them in the house for about a week may make the DIE!

This is my gourd cleaning/washing station.  We wound up with 2 boxes full of gourds.  These gourds have been washed as evidenced by the vinegar and water spilled on the wood box top.

I would estimate we got about 75 gourds this year with the majority being the smaller ones in the next picture.

Each and every gourd has been hand washed just like you would was a babies face

The smallest gourd harvested is about 1 1/2 inches long.  It's one of those green guys with the vertical stripes.  The largest one is right there in the box at the bottom of the picture.

I found it interesting that some gourds were quite heavy and some light.  Maybe the lighter ones are older and have lost some of their innards.

I found a couple of gourds that had faded.  According to GIM that is because they matured and were left to wallow in the bright sun.

This is where the gourds will reside during their week in purgatory.  Under the card table in the art room (the Woman's Cave). Here mother nature will decide if they have been handled properly or if they must DIE.

By the way, the box of gourds pictured here is the other box not shown earlier.  As you can clearly see this box also holds the biggest gourd.  I can't explain how there can be more than one "biggest" gourd but seeing is believing.  I guess you have to be a Gourd Daddy to accomplish this feat.

Finally, all the gourd vines will be cut down and taken to the dump.  It isn't healthy for them to remain once they have produced their fruit (well, it's my fruit now).  Thus before the weekend is past all vines will have been cut down and the gourd trellis will be naked until next summer.

We will be planting gourds again only bigger and more diverse.

Whoohoo!! And stay tuned :-)

Fish School Math

In the beginning we had 5 goldfish. Then one disappeared so we had 4. Then there was all this mating activity in the spring but we didn't find any fry. Then we thought we had 3 but it turned out we really had 4 because the black one was so shy, hard to see and also had a good hidy-hole, we just kept missing him.

Then the fish started to make their way out of the bridge pond and wound up in the skimmer pond. Then they would wind up in the skimmer and I would return them to the bridge pond.

EXCEPT for one.

The one we call Glow would not venture into the skimmer nor could we catch him with a net. We finally quit trying and left the poor lonely guy in peace.  I checked on him from time to time to make sure he hadn't changed his mind and swam into the skimmer.

Then two days ago I thought I saw two fish in the skimmer pond! I figured one of the fish from the bridge pond had gone over the waterfalls to the skimmer pond. Good.  That would give Glow a little company for a while.

And then I saw 3 fish in the bridge pond.  So 3 fish in one pond and 2 in the other is 5 fish. We only have 4!  Well, I know they can't jump the falls... they aren't salmon you know.  I talked it over with Ginger and we decided I was seeing things... maybe the infamous rock fish or it might have been a figment of my imagination... I was just nuts maybe... take your pick.

And finally I know the answer. I saw them all right after lunch today. There are 3 fish in the bridge pond and 3 fish (maybe more) in the skimmer pond. Apparently there was a bit of joy with all that mating going on and a few fish lived long enough to get big enough to not get eaten. 

And they all lived happily ever after.

THE END (and whoohoo!!!)

P.S. The new ones are about 3 or 4 inches long now. I'm looking forward to a closer look at 'em to see their markings and introduce myself. Maybe next spring.

Isn't That a Argiope Trifasciata?

By George it is a Argiope Trifasciata! Most folks call them Banded Garden Spiders but the technical name does offer a challenge just to pronounce.

The spider pictured is a female. The males are much smaller as is usual in the spider world.

The white thing that appears like it's hanging from her middle is lunch. Some creature flew into her web and was wrapped in web and then eaten. As we watched her turn the morsel to access juicier parts of her meal we thought it pretty neat that she could maneuver so easily. Reminded me of a juggler.

She was pretty close to the ground with rocks on one side and shrubs and bushes on the others so I was challenged to get these picture which in my estimation are not that great.  Sorry. Some day I'll have a camera that works better.

These spiders emerge in the fall. They don't care for the heat of summer or the freezing of winter so they only come out for a few months in the fall. This is the first time I've ever seen one and I've been around for many fall seasons.

In their web there is a zig-zag pattern they weave. It runs through the center of the web and is called a "stabilimenta." The purpose of this unpronounceable thing is to reinforce the web so it doesn't require repair as often. Studies have shown the inclusion of the stabilimenta results in
fewer "catches" but it also results in less damage from birds as they can then see the web and avoid a collision.

One really cool thing that I thought was amazing was the spider will bounce on it's web if you lightly touch it.  We observed this and at first thought that maybe the web was stuck to the camera strap or something similar. It turns out it was this spider bouncing away.

So that's the big gee-whiz at Red Tail Ridge on this 10th anniversary of the tragedy 10 years ago in New York.

Whoohoo Y'all...

Retraction of the Pond Pump Retraction

The new seal for the pond pump arrived on Monday.  I had already taken the pump apart so was ready to remove the faulty seal and replace with the new one.

The repair took about 45 minutes and was pretty easy to do.  I have the pump back in the pump pit and it's been pumping away for about 24 hours now and so far it's dry in the pit.

I certainly hope this isn't an ongoing saga...

Whoohoo!

Grow'n Faster Than Weeds!

They are grow'n fast. In an effort to show you how fast I took another picture of the gourd trellis from about the same spot as I took last Friday. Keep in mind that Friday was a mere 4 days ago... so much has changed in four days.

This is the picture I posted previously and was taken just last Friday... a mere 4 days ago!

This picture was taken this morning from the same spot as the one above.  Can this be the same trellis? Wowzer!!!

Some of the gourds seem to have taken on their own personality. A few examples below... if you have some names that might be appropriate then leave them in the comments section.

The milky skin of the Albino.

The hour glass figure of the sexy siren.

The wart like bump of the toad gourd.

This one has lots of options. For the blog,
however, I'll just call it the Buddah gourd.

This one has a small head and normal body. I'll
call it the politician gourd.

There you have the latest installment on the fast changing gourd trellis.

Whoohoo!!

Ding Dong - Gourd Bells

I just love my gourd trellis. It is one of the coolest things we've done this year and I'm sure we will do it again next year too.

The gourds are starting to grow like crazy. Everyday there are new ones dropping in. I swear that some days they are growing so fast you can almost see them getting bigger.  As the gourd trellis matures we are treated to various shapes and sizes of gourds and the trellis is filling out nicely.

Here are some pictures I took on Friday:

This is the biggest gourd we have so far. It's over a foot long.

One of the most interesting things, to me anyway, are the tendrils the wrap themselves around just
about anything they come in contact with. The look like organic springs.

Every now and then a baby gourd will start to grow and then die off. Haven't figured out why that
is but once they get about 3 or 4 inches long they continue to mature.

Whoohoo!

Pond Pump Project Retraction

I was feeling energized because the pond pump project went so well. The pump pumped and the water flowed nicely AND there were no leaks. There are currently no leaks as I had to remove the pump from the pump hole to keep it from filling the pump hole with water.  The damn thing leaked.

On the morning of the 5th day I went outside and looked into the pump hole (hmmm, maybe it should be called pump pit...) and there was a small area of wetness under the pump. A couple of hours later water was running out the bottom of the pump and the whole bottom of the hole/pit was wet.  I shut the pump off.

I talked to the guys at Performance Pro Pumps... a nice lot they are too. They said that 99 times out of 100 the leaks were caused by a failue in a seal (click here for bad seal joke xx).  They gave me a couple of options:

1. Return the pump and they would repair it and return it to me for no charge.
2. Take the pump to a local pump repair facility and they would pay for repairs.
3. They would send me a repair kit with instructions on how to put in a seal.

I selected option 3 as I've replaced axle seals on cars and figure the seal in a pump can't be that difficult. In addition, the factory guy, Eric, said it was pretty simple and he would be available for questions anytime... even gave me his personal cell phone number.

So the new seal is on it's way. The pump is sitting on my work bench. The algae is happy as a clam with all the calm warm water.

Boohoo...

Pond Pump Project Update

It's done! 

Since my last post about the "Pond Pump Project" I received my pump and then immediately moved on to plan "B."  Plan "B" was to extend the width of the pump hole. It's funny how things look when you envision them versus the reality of the finished product.

How the pump area looked before the new pump.

I found the pump fit in the hole OK but once in there I just didn't have enough room to get everything connected.  I knocked out the bricks on one end and got out my trusty orange shovel and with one more wheel barrow trip up the hill I have excavated another 8 or 9 inches of the hole.  This allowed me to slide the pump farther away from the skimmer and return pipe.

As you can see there isn't a lot of difference in the before and after.  It's kind of  disheartening to work so hard on an improvement and not have much to show for it

How the pump area looked after the new pump. 

The difference will be realized, I hope, next year when the string algae finds it harder live in my pond.

With almost all the work done (just a few nits to take care of) here is the detail of what is now living under my fake rock.

It must be one of Murphy's Laws that a large space becomes very small once you put something in it. None the less, the pump fits, the fake rock covers and protects the contents of the   

Pump Hole and there are no leaks. Let's hope the no leak statement doesn't have to be retracted. Inside this hole we have the Performance Pro High Flow 3/4 HP pump, the sprinkler controller that is used to insure the pond filler can't go crazy and flood the pond, the sprinkler valve and last but by no means least, is the hose that leads to Hector the spitter.

It's all compact and neat.  I'm like'n the way it turned out.

Of course if there are any problems or issues arising I'll be posting those little tid-bits of information on this very blog.

Whoohoo!!

Squash Bug Invasion

And all this time I thought a squash bug was any 'ol bug that you had stepped on. I was educated this past week when I saw fluid dripping from one of my gourd vines.

Stuff dripping from your plants are never a good sign and usually indicates something is about to die. It would be either the plant or the critter causing the plant such distress.

The first thing we saw were the eggs under some of the leaves.  These little "footballs" will hatch into baby squash bugs that will, in turn, eat. What they eat is the gourd plant or more precisely the gourd plant juice.

Any bug mess'n with my gourds is risking it's life.

There are all kinds of things to do for squash bugs and I found that most of the recommendations don't work.  I sprayed with Sevin.  Sprayed again and still the place looked like a union meeting of Squash Bug Local 86.

So these little gourd suckers were causing big problems with my gourd plants and I wasn't having much luck sending them to SBH (Squash Bug Heaven).

After 2 bottles of Sevin I had to admit they were getting the best of me so we reached out for some help. Ginger went to the nursery and asked their resident, "how does she know all this stuff," cops wife and all around nice lady, Mona.

Of course Mona knew what to do. She said we should take an hour and look at each leaf, paying special attention to the underside.  Also look on the vines. If we found eggs or hatchling's we should take some duct tape and press it to the eggs or hatchling's. The gourd leaves and vines/stalks have little "hairs" on them so things can't stick very well and when applying the duct tape they are easily removed and permanently stuck to the tape.

Now, if you come across an adult you do just like the name implies... you squash it, splat it, mash it, stomp on it, squish it and if you want you can duct tape it... just don't let any of them out alive.

That's what we did and it was amazing the number of eggs we found as well as hatchling's. Since the duct tape roundup I haven't found a single egg or squash bug anywhere. 

I'll keep my duct tape handy and will inspect regularly.  It's a pretty easy fix once you know what your supposed to do about the critters.

I love a story with a sad ending... for squash bugs.

Whoohoo.

Pond Pump Project

Could there ever be a year that I don't have something exciting to do in the pond maintenance arena? I guess I just have to wait till it's hot enough to fry green tomatoes on the raised garden bricks and then start a project.

As faithful frog-blog followers your aware that this year the string algae has attempted a coup to overthrow the balance between an attractive, peaceful pond with lily's and fish versus a green slimy swamp! To this end I have to admit the string algae has held the upper hand.  That, my friends, is going to stop real soon.

In my ever so humble opinion the string algae began the take over when I last replaced my pond pump. The replacement pump has been working diligently day after day, season after season however the water flow just isn't there to keep the string algae at bay.  I need faster flowing water and to attain that goal I can either make the pond volume less or increase the amount of water I pump from the skimmer pond up to the bio-falls. I'm going to pump more water.

The new pump is supposed to arrive via UPS on Tuesday.  I'm so excited.  So in preparation of the event I have dug a hole.

Yes my friends it took many wheelbarrow trips from my backyard, up the hill to the undeveloped land to dump the dirt I extracted from what will be my new pumps home.  It could only have been harder if the trip had been uphill BOTH WAY'S as it was when I used to walk to school.

This new pump is an external pump. That means it isn't submerged in the skimmer but lives outside the pond on dry land... in this case stuck in a hole next to the skimmer.

So without further ado I present to you the before and after pictures of my soon to be installed Artesian2 3/4 horsepower - high flow pump house or cave or hole.

This is the before picture. The reality of what really lived under
the fake rock.

The new and improved space under the fake rock.

The pump will sit cross-wise or from corner to corner.  The space without
the brick is what I'm calling the "future sump pump."  The sprinkler controller
is movable as it is on a bracket that hangs over the edge of the brick wall.

So there you have it folks.  I'll be updating the blog once the pump is installed... God willing and the hole doesn't fill up with water.

Whoohoo!!

Gourd Teaser

We're not even close to having much to show with the gourd trellis.  I thought it would be a nice gesture to share a few pictures of the, someday it will be exciting, gourd trellis.  To that end I present a picture of a baby gourd.

Here's one of Gourd Daddies little babies:

These little gals are two-toned.  When they are really small (new) they are upside down
compared to how you are accustomed to seeing them. Did you know there are male flowers
and female flowers?  The males contribute pollen, bees and similar creatures transport the
pollen to the female flower and then that magic thing happens and babies are created. Without
all three participants there will be no gourds.

OK, I got carried away and had to show you two pictures.  What can I say... I'm just another proud Gourd Daddy.

This little guy is about 10 days older than her little sister above.  As the temperatures
rise the gourds grow faster.  It's going to be an exciting fall at our gourd trellis.

Are you excited about gourds yet???   Well, maybe when they get bigger and hang down like bells from the trellis.  Come on over and take a look with your own eyes. Yea, that's when you won't be able to contain yourself.  I don't think I can wait that long.....

Whoohoo!!

Dragon Fly Phenom

Once again it was time to clean the skimmer of the pond. When I lifted the lid to expose the basket I was greeted by 4 dragon flies. They were reddish in color and in different stages of joining the dry world of flight, bug catching and mating.

I called for my wife and sister (visiting) to come and see these miraculous creatures. As I waited for them I watched one fly off. The first flight of it's life and it just knew how to do it... that alone is pretty amazing to this blog writer.

So wife and sister showed up and were as impressed as I thought they would be. My sister ran back inside the house to get her camera. I thought that was a grand idea so I went in for my camera too... I didn't run.

The life cycle of a dragon fly begins when the female lays eggs in a body of water. They prefer slow moving water that would be found in most ponds and swampy areas. The eggs hatch into what is termed a "nymph." The nymph is a fairly ugly look'n character that starts life eating small organisms and as the nymph grows it eats larger and larger things. Depending on the species of dragon fly, the nymph may eat small fish and tadpoles not to mention mosquito larvae. Also depending on the species and weather conditions in the water, the nymph might live in the water for 4 or 5 years.

These dragon fly nymph's will not emerge from their watery home until the weather is appropriate for them to be out and about... that is to say, they aren't going to come out in the late fall or winter when they would freeze their little abdomens off.

When they mature and the weather permits they will emerge from the water and attach themselves to a vertical surface. That's when the magic becomes visible to us mere humans. The dragon fly, like a butterfly emerges and begins to pump blood to it's wings and abdomen. It is quite vulnerable during this period as it can't fly until the wings dry. When it's ready it just flys away in search of food and a mate.

These mature dragon flies will only live a few weeks. During that time they will mate and lay eggs starting the cycle anew.

Here are some of the pictures. The first 3 are from the Internet (plagiarized).

A dragon fly emerging from the nymph shell (for lack of a better word).

After emerging from the nymph shell the dragon fly will usually just hang on to the shell and start with making it's wings
functional by pumping blood into them and letting them dry.

The wings start to unfurl not unlike the solar panels on a satellite.

You can see the dried body of the nymph on the left. Note the hole in it's back, this is where the dragon fly on the upper
right crawled out of the nymph. The light colored dragon fly is holding onto the nymph shell that it grew in.  It sure seems like
a lot of dragon fly to emerge from a relatively small nymph. When they emerge, like the light colored one, they are soft and pliable.  Some of the nymphs that are mature will look swollen and have colored abdomens on the underside. You can double
click the picture to open it and zoom in for a better look.

That's the amazing short story of the dragon fly from my pond.

Whoohoo!

String Algae Collection Device

I'm calling this version 1.2 of my home made "String Algae Collection Device."

This thing is pretty simple which is what makes it work so well.  Not to say there are not improvements to be made... I'm already working on version 1.3.

The "big gee-whiz" of this thing is the round handle which makes it easy to spin the tool and the algae collection end is splayed out to hook the string algae.

Insert tool in the pond and let it rest on the algae. Spin the tool and the algae wraps around the PVC pipe. Remove the tool from the pond and slide the algae off the end of the pipe... sorry, you have to use your hand.

All I can tell you is it works pretty well as a first pass to remove the large masses of algae.  Chemicals are needed for the cleanup and if I owned one a pond vacuum would be nice.

When you own a pond algae will always be present.  One of the key's to having an attractive pond is clear water, some plants, waterfalls and no algae.  It's the "no algae" part that is unattainable but algae can be managed.

To manage algae all you need is lots of time, a few coins, lots of time, patience, lots of time, more patience, chemicals, patience, additonal patience.....

It's too bad Billy Mays isn't with us anymore as I would have him selling these by the thousands! Sure...

Dontchaloveit?

Whoohoo!