Spring seems to have arrived.
Finally.
While I'm not convinced that it's going to stick around for a while, it's here now. I shall be content with that.
Saturday was the annual cleaning of the fish pond. This is about three weeks late this year. The Missus Herself being still somewhat banged up from a rear end collision back in February, she's been laying low, gathering her strength, before tackling the spring yard chores.
Last week was the annual mulch fest, she damned near crippled herself doing that but the kid next door was a huge help. He did the heavy lifting. It's not that I was shirking my "pick things up and put them down" duties but my better half decided that the job would be done while I was work.
No, it wasn't so she didn't have to listen to me whine. (I don't whine, I complain in a very masculine way. For various values of "masculine.")
Anyhoo. Saturday morning she who will be obeyed announced over the 1MC that all hands would lay aft at eight bells of the forenoon watch (noon to all you other landlubbers) and the annual pond overhaul evolution would commence. Aft, by the way, is the back yard.
I grumbled a bit but our fish, gold fish and koi, really needed to have the water freshened and the pump system brought on line for the summer and fall. The water was a bit green and furthermore wasn't so great smelling downwind of it. Made low tide smell like, well, a day in spring. Which today was.
And gorgeous as well.
I would say more but I have a new computer game I'm keen to try out. It's called The Seven Years War and covers, well, the Seven Years War from 1756 to 1763. We, as in colonial America, participated in that one. We called the strife on this side of the Atlantic, The French and Indian War. No doubt leftists are all swooning now as apparently we shouldn't call them "Indians." (Explain AIM to me then, leftist buffoons.)
That war was arguably the first world war as fighting stretched from the American frontier to the Indian subcontinent.
Anyhoo.
Here's some photos of the day of the pond cleaning.
See you Tuesday as Juvat assures me that his hand is "good to go" for Monday.
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| A new bridge is in the budget request. More paint left than metal. |
I've missed the sound of that waterfall.
We've gone from this...
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| 06 April 2018 |
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| 21 April 2018 |
Finally.
(Didn't I say that already?)
And a right pretty place it is. Looks to be the perfect place to relax ( after all the hard maintenance is done ) and have an adult beverage.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post.
Paul L. Quandt
Many adult beverages have been consumed back there. Not all at once mind you but over the years.
DeleteIt's extraordinarily peaceful back there.
How are the fishes?
ReplyDeleteThey all came through the winter. In fact, there are more than last November.
DeleteThey've been busy.
Nice to see so much bare earth and green. A neighbor has fish he puts into a small backyard pond, have to ask him if he's suffered any losses from the local raccoon patrol. Much effort and love in your yard there Sarge.......yup bridges do need to be replaced don't they?
ReplyDeleteJust ordered a new bridge, cedar this time. Pictures when it arrives, is stained, and in place.
DeleteOddly enough we don't have a problem with raccoons. Herons, cranes, those are our nemesis.
Ever think about putting a fine (almost invisible) net over it, sarge?
DeleteWe had a net over it for a few years when the waterfowl were migrating. Big enough so that the birds could see it and not get entangled in it. Dead birds in the pond are a hassle, found a suicidal blue jay afloat one day.
DeleteIt's not always a problem, something to think about though.
My original idea for the garden pond involved an island gazebo, and a pontoon bridge to get to the island.
ReplyDeleteAfter discussing this with my wife, we compromised on an 18 gallon pond with a large rock next to the pond and the recirculating water splashes from the rock into the pond.
To paraphrase a line from "The Princess Bride," I am not sure the word compromise means what you think it means.
Your back yard looks like a quiet and tranquil harbor that you can anchor in to escape the storms and turmoil of everyday life.
A very well done to both of you.
I wonder if you could break down the bridge and transport it to have it blasted and epoxy painted?
There isn't much metal left in spots, we'd need to replace some of the supports and one entire bottom rail.
DeleteWe ordered a new bridge in cedar this very day. The old one lasted a good long time, will be sad to see it go but better that than have the grandkids plummet into the pond. (They LOVE standing on the bridge and watching the fish. As do I.)
Yard work.
ReplyDeleteIt’s like wiping your @$$ with a hula hoop.
There’s no end to it.
Don't think I've ever heard that one before.
DeleteI'm betting it's something a Master Chief came up with.
Most humorous, very colorful.
🤣
Real talent displayed in that yard.
ReplyDeleteThe Missus Herself did an amazing job back there.
DeleteOkay, weird question (from me? naaahhhh...) but what did you do with the fish during the winter?
ReplyDeleteYour daffodils are quite pretty. Need to get something done for Mrs. Andrew about daffers, as she calls them.
The fish go dormant in the winter. Once the temperature drops to a certain level we stop feeding them and they pretty much "sleep" all winter. One end of the pond is about three feet deep, we put a big container in that end for them to shelter in, as long as the water doesn't completely freeze, they do alright.
DeleteLove the "daffers." In my book it ain't spring until they blossom.
Huh, will wonders never end. Didn't know that they'd survive in that cold of weather.
DeleteSee? This is why this blog is so good. Education, learned discourse, violence, food. You've got it all.
We're a real smorgasbord of...
DeleteYeah, all that stuff you said.
Beautiful place, Sarge!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have to do a "Spring in Northern Colorado" post Real Soon Now or I'll miss all the buddin' and bloomin'!
You should. Man, I miss Colorado some days.
Delete(Went to college in Fort Collins.)
A CSU Ram Alumni!
DeleteWe live over on the West side of town and try and avoid College Ave as much as possible, especially on the weekends. Still, it's a wonderful place, and reminds me very much of where I grew up in Illinois.
Except for the mountains, of course....
We lived on West Elizabeth, behind King Soopers.
DeleteHah! That's where the wife shops, along with the Safeway further South.
DeleteWe live in the square that Rolland Moore Park and Red Fox Meadows Natural Area are in.
Wow, small world.
DeleteFort Collins has changed a lot since I left in 1987, I hardly recognize the place.
Where you live looks pretty nice!
sarge/
ReplyDeleteCleaned out the koi pond, eh? Fishin' season must soon be upon us. nom..nom..nom.. :)
As I wrote this, I could already hear you saying "nom..nom..nom.." What size net is necessary to keep old Phantom drivers out of the pond?
DeleteI know, I know, there hasn't been a net made that will keep a fighter pilot away from what he wants.
Throughout my first two decades visits to Carlisle often involved draining and then patching the various fish ponds on the property at 274 Wilson St. It was kind of annual thing (no perrenials dammit) that involved buckets, cups, sponges and then mixing cement and applying it. That wasn't so bad compared to the other monstrous labor which involved filling in all the potholes in the drive to the house and to the barn. That generally resulted in the burning of the clothes. I find that I don't miss that at all.
ReplyDeleteOverhead view shows a substantial dwelling at that address. No sign of any fish ponds. Perhaps they filled them in and gave up after you stopped coming around to mend them?
DeleteThat is a hell of a driveway as well. No barn that I could see. Times change.
The blacktop parking lot behind the house was where the barn was. It doubled as a garage and potting shed. On the other side of the blacktop was my great grandfather's shed which he would repair to every day wearing a pressed white shirt and tie up until the day he died at 102. The other side of the street was the county hospital. 5 or 6 floors of medical and where my grandfather worked for over 50 years as an MD who also made housecalls into the country around Carlisle. All to the right of the house was meadow. Used to stalk wild game there with my grandmother armed with slingshots. As you say, things change.
DeleteNice looking house.
DeleteThe side windows in our apartment in Fort Collins in Colorado looked out over open fields and woodlands.
Not so much now, mostly developed. I suppose folks have to build somewhere.
Yard still looks good, green or white. Still got that cool dog next door?
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, big old Hercules is still there. He is truly a good dog.
DeleteLovely garden, reminds me of journeys to the east. Funny, how one can transplant their physical and spiritual selves (maybe not the best word, but memories and the physical reminders of the old country). My English grandparents backyard in West Bridgewater MA was very close to a suburban London garden, as your is to an asian garden. Only difference is there is much more open area. The house lots that I've seen in suburban asia and England are a bit more, cheek to jowl with the neighbors that we enjoy.
ReplyDeleteYes, in England and certain Asian countries they don' really have big yards and have to make do. But I've seen them make do (especially in Japan and Korea) in very amazing ways.
DeleteIn Chinhae there is a tiny navy base with a tiny VIP house and a tiny yard and in there, a little pond with giant coi. It is unbelievably restful and yet one would never even notice it if one didn't go in search of it.
ReplyDeleteSounds idyllic.
Delete