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!!