Fall to Winter

Here in western Michigan we have had an early taste of winter.  We often don't get snow until very late December and early January.  It is not unusual for us to have a green Christmas and New Years.  But this year seems to be different.  Already the pond is frozen over.  I have put in my spot deicer and a bubbler.  The experts say that the deicer is essential but I like to add the bubbler too.  It helps keep the ice open and with my big koi I feel it gives them an advantage.   As you can see the net to keep the leaves out has completely sagged down.  It looks like it may have even broken one of the 2x4's that I use to hold up the net.  I must come up with something better next year.  Maybe nothing at all.  

The last picture is of the holly bush. It was my mothers. I believe that she recieved it as a gift from one of her grand children one year.  Michelle I think.  I really enjoy it.  I usually cut braches and make a holly wreath for the front door.  

New Pump

My garden waterfall pump died on Friday.  I had to replace it right away as it is the heart beat of my water garden. This is a picture of my old pump beside new pump.  The old one is on the right.  It served me well for 5 seasons.  The new one on the left was less expensive, but puts out about the same gph.   

Friday started out as a beautiful day. I only had to work four hours.  After grocery shopping Jim, Mark (my son) and I went for a nice walk on the Lake Michigan Beach. We wanted to go somewhere a little different, so we drove to Manistee State Park, called Orchard Beach. I guess when the State bought the property it was an old orchard. I was a beautiful day and a nice walk.  

When we got home I fed my fish in the pond and noticed my pump making a terrible noise.  I didn't have filters in it this week and I thought maybe a stick or something was caught in the impeller.  When I unpluged it I noticed the plug was very hot.  Oh, Oh, I knew that meant trouble.  I saw the impeller was clear and tried to plug it in again, but it wouldn't run.  When I looked at it again I noticed that when I turned it over I heard water sloshing about inside.  I took it into the workshop.  It was there I determined that the water was in fact in the motor housing.                    

                                 Below is a picture of the new pump about to be put into place.

 The old pump was 5 years old.  But it was expensive for my pocket book, $235, and I thought it would last longer.  However during my search that evening I realized that most pumps have a warranty of about that long.  I considered a lot of different ways to deal with this state of pumplessness. I considered getting a really small one to get through the season, ordering one on line or buying locally what I could get.  I settled on the last alternative.  I got as big a one as I could from Lowe's.  It was cheaper than the original at $160.  It may not be as cheap to run.  I'll see how much my electric bill goes up.  The watts are about the same, the gph (gallons per hour) is a little more.  My old pump was rated at 3000 gph and the new one is 3600 gph.  Once installed the water fall looked the same to me.  So guess there wasn't a lot of difference. 

The fish didn't know what to do about no waterfall.  They kept swimming down and looking at the spot where the water fall splashes into the pond.  They would just sit there, as though they they were waiting for it to start again.  Well it is running again and everything is back to normal.  

September Water Garden

Today is Monday September 15, and it is feeling pretty cold.  We had lots of rain this weekend here in Ludington, MI.  The pond was overflowing.  Because it was raining Sunday I took out the filters and rinsed them, but didn't put them back. It is a little early to leave them out, but the water looked clear this evening, so I may leave them out for a while.  I tried to catch guppies that had escaped into my pond this summer, but they were too quick and too much water to hide in.  I was trying to save them.  I know they will perish when the  winter winds come whipping out of the north.  In the picture on the left Jim, my husband, is feeding the last few Japanese Beetles to the rock bass that live in our water garden. There are a few water lilies still blooming and so are the wild asters and golden rod. I always leave a few of these "weeds" to bloom as they brighten up an autumn garden.

The heavy rains this weekend caused the squash vines to rot.  So we pulled them out of the garden and put the squash and pumpkin in a dry sunny spot to finish ripening. 

This is the time of year when it is good to get a lot of weeding done.  It's easier when things go dormant.  In the spring I hate to disturb the crocus and daffodils. Fall is a busy season. 

Pond Snorkeling

I went snorkeling in my pond a few weeks ago.  I wanted a fish eye view of my pond.  It was beautiful.  An underwater camera is at the top of my Christmas list for this year.  I had imagined that my fish were happy in their pond.  And maybe to them it is ho hum, but I was impressed.  A large snail I had put in there some years ago.  It Was crawling about and seemed to be doing well.  I hadn't seen him and wondered if he was still alive.  

While I was cleaning the upper pond a bit, I found fish parts from one of the little rock bass.  He must have gotten sucked into the pump.  I keep it wraped up in netting so that won't happen.  However when I'm cleaning my filters it is open for maybe 5 to 10 minutes.  Curious little critters that they are, he must have been nosing around and was sucked to his doom, and spit out at the top of the falls.  

Summer is winding down and I'm struggling to figure a better way to keep the leaves out of my pond.  I have put netting over it in past years, but the leaves get stuck, weigh it down it all ends up in the water anyway.  It becomes a big soggy unmanagable pile of leaves, netting and wire.  If my pond weren't so big (it's 15 feet by 30 feet)  it might be easier.  Well, I'm going to try something different this year.  Time will tell what that might be.  

 

Sunday Reviewing the Week

A lovely cool morning.  I got up at 4:30 this morning.  I want to get back on my regular wake up time.  I have to go back to work on Tue. after my week of vacation.  Laura, my darling daughter was here with her wonderfully charming husband Willie.  I had a good time, I hope they did.  Now I keep thinking of all things we should have done.  I went to the pond this morning to see if my gold fish were frisking in the weeds like they do most summer mornings.  They were a little more quiet this morning.  But they swam up to their regular feeding spot to see if I was going to throw anything interesting. 

The waterfall looks nice and water is clear.  Sometimes I think I have critters in the night that go mucking about in my pond and bog garden.  Sometimes the water is a little cloudy and bits of plants a floating around.  The critters seem to especially like my duck potatoe.  I often see them floating about with bites taken out of them.  I use to worry they would eleimiate my plants, but they seem to be thriving.  

Some say that Koi will pull up plants, but I haven't seen that yet.  Unless my koi have grown teeth that look like squirel's.

I made another blueberry pie this morning.  We picked blueberries when Laura and Willie where here.  We had a good time.  We each picked a buck full.  It is a lot of blueberries, but they do freeze well.  Oh yea... picking the berries. 

My Pond History

I Filled my pond for the first time on June 26, 2003.  The size is 15 x 30 and holds about 5,000 gal. It was all dug by hand.  I did about a third of the digging and my step son did the rest.  I was going to do it all, but my husband Jim paid his son to finish it for me one day when I was at work. What a wonderful surprize.  The main pond then is 5 years old this year.  I will add pictures to show the progress.  After several different attempts at a waterfall that just didn't work, I ordered a liner reminent from Stoney Creek Pond Supply Catalog, in 2006.  The upper pond and bog garden seemed to work well.  I know the date showing on my pond photo says that it is 2002, but in reality it is from 2006.  The date wasn't correct in the camera. 

First Post!

Here is my first post.  Blogging is great.