Spent the bulk of Saturday out in the back yard at Chez Sarge, you may have noticed a lack of me commenting on yesterday's post, Beans had it under control, so I slacked off and went sinker for the day. Which was gorgeous!
The weather in these parts has been consistently miserable for what seems months now. I know we've had a few nice days in there, but they have been few and far between. Not to mention that it seems colder than normal this year. Temperatures in the 30s at night which just seems unusual.
So the annual cleaning of the koi pond has been put off long past its normal date, which is usually in early April. What with the colder temps, we just weren't up to heading out and diving in to the task. Cold water, cold wind, and the stench of old pond water (near the bottom) just wasn't beckoning to us to come forth.
Friday's weather was très misérable, drizzly, rainy, windy, and cold for this time of year. (Though my memory could be playing tricks on me, after all this is New England where the weather is about as consistent as a politician's promises. I remember the First of June in 2000, a very long time ago I guess, turn of the century and all that (those of you who want to say, "No, the 21st Century started in 2001...," geh weg, I have my own rules for that), was dreadful. Old Air Force friends of ours were visiting from Minnesota and I remember distinctly being outside having a smoke with the lady of the visiting team, huddled under an umbrella, bundled up like Inuits, in the pouring rain. (Really glad I quit that habit, so did she as I recall.)
Anyhoo, The Missus Herself's crystal ball indicated that Saturday would be lovely. Low 60s, sunny, and very little wind. So we would be cleaning the pond. While it isn't my favorite thing to do I'm sure the fish appreciate having clean water to live in. (Believe me, over the winter the water gets green and nasty.)
So Saturday dawned and it was indeed lovely. Light windbreaker over a t-shirt weather. So to the pond we went. During that we had a supply drop (The WSO keeps us in groceries via delivery so we don't need to venture out, being old ya know, it worries the progeny if we go out) and we soldiered on with the pond. She does most of the work as she knows exactly how she wants it (I swear she will spend two hours cleaning each individual rock on the bottom of that pond) but we got it done.
I managed to convince the love of my life that picking up food from our local Mexican restaurant was not going to kill anyone so I ordered food for the both of us. When I picked it up the place was very quiet, but everybody inside (take out only mind you) was masked and gloved, as were the two other customers I saw. So I felt safe as can be in these whacked-out, crazy times.
So we had Mexican food: burritos and fajitas, refried beans, Mexican rice, guacamole, and salsa with home made chips. ¡Fue muy bueno!
So a good day indeed.
I have pictures!
Oh, one more thing, during the annual cleaning of the pond, a fox ran through the yard. Middle of the day it was! Haven't seen one of the sly ones in a while. I did warn the neighbors though, they have chickens!
A very good day, now with wildlife!
Be well.
Cleaning our tiny pond is in the immediate future. No fish, we no longer supply a sushi diet to the local wildlife. The gurgling sound of the small waterfall provides a nice background noise.
ReplyDeleteWe cut the grass for the second time this season yesterday and for the present we will keep on cutting our own grass. We did begin to talk about what changes we will have to make in our, well, more senior, years in order to be able to keep on living here.
Your place looks beautiful.
Thanks John, and you're spot on regarding the sound of the waterfall. I love hearing it in the middle of the night, first thing in the morning, anytime really. Such a calming effect it has!
DeleteSince the quarantine I've been sending out pictures of the garden as well since no one's around to see it. Haven't cleaned out the goldfish pond yet as it's still cold and rainy here in south/central PA too. When I clean the pond I use a power washer on the liner and rocks. Goes a lot faster and does a better job. Maybe this week.
ReplyDeleteSaturday was brilliant here, supposed to drop back down to 40° for Monday. Today is rather gloomy, but dry so far. It's been an uneven Spring, weather-wise.
DeleteMost recent update from NOAA calls for snow Monday night into Tuesday morning. Lat. & longitude approximately 1 statute mile South-south west by south your location. Old Guns.
DeleteI checked the forecast, I guess winter isn't over yet.
DeleteYour yard looks like a private park. Envy but not for all the work that goes into it).
ReplyDeleteA lot of work indeed, most of which The Missus Herself does, it's her hobby and she does it well!
DeleteHere in ‘old’ England we’ve had sunshine for weeks! (rain coming Tuesday 🤣)
ReplyDeleteSunny in Blighty? Say it isn't so!
DeleteTruth be told, I spent a week in London with my daughter, didn't rain once. It happens!
Yep. Sunny. Unnaturally sunny. Since the lockdown the sky has been gin clear. I live to the west of LHR and we've gone from a flight every two minutes to 'look! a plane!'. I'm actually finding the quiet unnerving. Our weather went from a wet winter to bone dry in a couple of weeks. For those of you who think England is perpetually wet the South East of England (where I live) is actually classed as semi-arid. We have only about 24" of rain per annum. Some parts of England get a lot more but we don't. The rain usually arrives evenly spread out throughout the year, which does help a lot. As for wildlife. I have a fox which leaves 'deposits' in my garden but Foxes have adapted to urban life very well. The deer around here are a pest. We have Muntjac deer which destroy anything young and green. I could also do without the Parakeets which are really noisy here and are now a real pest for fruit farmers. Still, we survive. Anyhow, nice garden you have. A garden makes it easier to keep going in these weird times. Count your blessings, I cannot understand what it must be like stuck in an inner city apartment (or flat as we call them over here). Keep going, better times will return.
DeleteRetired
What anon said. I live on the Far Eastern shores. Our annual rainfall is, as near as dammit, the same as Tel Aviv! But does anyone listen? Oy Vay 🤷♂️
DeleteRetired - I read your comment, then brought up a climate map of the UK, surprised I was indeed. Not anything at all like I had figured.
DeleteSo much for all my preconceived notions of "English" weather.
HD - Heh, well played my friend, well played.
DeleteWell, now I'm jealous. A fox. man. I get skunks, feral cats, possums, spiders, snakes, scorpions, centipedes, rats, mice, tree rats, and buzzards. Once in a while I'll see a hawk, or a Mexican eagle.
ReplyDeleteThat backyard is lovely. A veritable paradise. Your own garden of Eden, with an Eve to go with. You should regard yourself as a lucky man.
Oh I do consider myself a lucky man, I am truly blessed!
DeleteHere in North Central WA (East of the Cascade Mt.'s, North middle part of the state)
ReplyDelete...we've had icky, cold and windy weather, warmed into the 60's, but not nice enough to go
outside to weed. How have you gotten to be so weed-free in your gardens? I never use
weed killing chemicals in my beds, so I have to dig 'em out.
This Covid-19 thing has provided a lot of blogging memes, but at the first calm, sunny and
warm day, I'm going to lay it all aside again and live outside.
Hey! - sunshine, heat, fresh air...POTUS's advice, don't'cha know.
Love ya, Sarge!
You too, Juvat!
I'm not quire sure of The Missus Herself's weed eradicating regimen. I do know that the mulch helps and vigilance, constant vigilance!
DeleteRight back atcha BC!
I stole one of your 'toons for tomorrow's post. Sorry (not sorry, it's a very elegant way of presenting the point)
DeleteNice!
DeleteI remember one summer here in muggy hot Florida, sometime around the late 80's or so where the high for the day was around 60 degrees, overcast, positively English in weather. Which was good, because I got to wear a tunic cut in a pattern similar to those seen on the Bayeaux Tapestry (it's really an embroidery.)
ReplyDeleteNormal temperatures would be in the mid 90's. So a very weird year.
Any plans on getting koi for your koi pond?
Yes, we have eight fish in the pond, half are koi. They wintered therein and came out none the worse for wear.
DeleteOh, and one frog, the frog would be pissed if he didn't get mentioned.
Good for you "risking death" getting Mexican food. I think there's far less risk of infection by actually going out and about, mainly because no one else is. The restaurants, take-out only of course, have only the well-protected staff as you described, streets are empty, stores that are open are fairly quiet, etc. There are more people walking in my neighborhood so the daily dog walk is the biggest risk, but easy to minimize. The local grocery story is small and social distancing is tough, but the commissary has wide aisles so I'm good to go there. Masks, washing hands, and not touching my face is still the best prevention so even if we loosen thing up, we can still be safe. A little soapbox here, but I think that history will show that the complete lockdown was not necessary- people had it before January, the rate/percentage of deaths isn't going to be as high as predicted (already coming true), and the lack of people going to the hospital for other ailments is going to result in a far greater rate of deaths that aren't COVID. The cure might be worse than the disease as it has been said.
ReplyDeleteDo I think the politicos (especially some of the local variety) panicked unnecessarily? Yup, I do. But while this virus thingee is not totally without precedent (which I keep telling those who say, "Nothing like this has ever happened before"), think Spanish flu in 1918-1919 which killed millions, there is nothing in our recent past like this. It's why you plan, the plan might fall apart at the very first instance, but you still need to plan for such a thing.
DeleteThis, like the financial "crisis" back in 2008-2009 was mostly media driven, they lie to us, a lot of people believe them and bingo!
2008-2009 loss of jobs.
2020 - no toilet paper.
Why does anyone believe the media anymore?
The koi hibernate in that frozen pond? There's a whole class structure to koi, it seems. Years ago, I was a trustee to an estate, and we had to do something with the koi.
ReplyDeleteFound that we have a koi club, and the President came out to look at them.
"These won't do", he sniffed.
Apparently to use a canine analogy they were mutts.
Pretty color combination to your house. Very New England?
I'm off to the Dinky Diner.
Fortunately the pond doesn't completely freeze. There's a deep end (three feet) which the fish shelter in (we put a big bucket in the deep end for them to hide out in). I like mutts, too much "selectivity" leads to elitism.
DeleteWell, the house is Cape Cod grey, so yes, rather New "England-y."
What's with all this grousin' about the weather? Got to 98 this week on my highly accurate truck thermometer. Spring's done come and gone. Maybe that's why Gov "Moses" Abbot is saying "Let my people go!"
ReplyDeleteAs noted above, NOAA says there's a chance of snow tomorrow night.
DeleteThe Missus Herself predicts cold and wet until summer starts, then BAM! 90°!
She's probably not far off...
Your yard is so cool Sarge, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWe're greening nicely with more snow on the way. It is still pre-June after all.
Chickens ate some of my tulips! Some survived. All part of the big adventure.
Very little actual illness around here but lots of people with masks around their necks rubbing their faces with the gloves they've been wearing all week!
We used to have a lot more tulips, then the rabbits started eating them. Haven't seen a rabbit lately, but with a fox around? We might not see rabbits for a while, and foxes (to my knowledge) don't eat tulips.
DeleteI'm thinking for the disease to get where you are, it would require someone with it to go there and infect folks. While Kimball is a great little town, it ain't exactly a tourist hot spot. Count your blessings Shaun!
I often think of the Dutch eating tulips during the war.
Deletehttps://amsterdamtulipmuseumonline.com/blogs/tulip-facts/eating-tulip-bulbs-during-world-war-ii
Some of our locals are quite disappointed they can't brag about big disease numbers. People are strange at times.
Yeah, like it was a competition!
DeleteCooked tulip bulbs taste like potatoes or onions? Who knew?
I often think of the Dutch eating tulips during the war.
ReplyDeleteAudrey Hepburn had to eat them while in Holland - which is one reason she looked so rail thin in later life
Yup.
Delete