New Birds

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As many of you know, Chez Sarge has a koi pond. Something that Virgil Xenophon¹ always took an interest in, though I think he meant to eat the koi, not admire them. There are other things out there who want to eat my fish. Wading birds: herons, egrets, cranes, and other long skinny feathered beings of that ilk.

We took to stringing a net over the deep part of the pond. The fish view that as a sanctuary as that's where they "sleep" in the winter. (I say sleep but they actually enter a semi-dormant state where they don't move much and they don't eat.) That sort of works, but then the flying koi-menace will watch and occasionally nab a fish in the shallow end. The koi like that end as it's sunny and warmer than the other end.

So we expected a bit of predation of our piscine friends. And it did happen, though not as often. Then one day The Missus Herself found these life-size bird statues on Amazon. I was hesitant at first, as they were not cheap. I also remembered the plastic life-sized coyotes my old employer set up around our facilities to keep the geese away. (The geese weren't a danger to life and limb, usually, but they did shit everywhere. And I mean everywhere, see here.)

The problem with the fake coyotes is that someone had to move them periodically, otherwise the geese would eventually be on to the scheme.

One Christmas break, no one moved the coyotes. Guess what? Yup, the geese returned to defecating at will, everywhere.

So I was concerned that the metal birds, not moving at all, wouldn't fool the real birds. Well, it seems, so far, to be working. Over a year and no predation of our aquatic neighbors.

Now one thing about the original pair of metal birds The Missus Herself purchased, seems that they are Black Necked White Canes. Native to the Tibetan plateau, not New England.

So far, the native wildlife hasn't figured that out yet. (You can see the one of the original birds below, closest to the camera. The other is across the pond. No not the Atlantic, my pond.)

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Now the new birds, which I ordered because ...

Well, because I thought they looked cool. And (bonus) they are native to the region. They arrived Wednesday while I was working in the fields cutting the grass. I think they look pretty cool.

I picture the scene above as the new birds (Great White Herons) are telling the Black Necked White Cranes to take a hike, "Y'all ain't even native to this area!" (Yells the one with the outstretched wings.)

The new guys need to be careful though, the non-native birds are a good ten inches taller than the new guys, heavier too. Might be interesting. (As long as they keep the real birds away, I'm happy.)

Yet another reason to enjoy my backyard!

¹ Has anyone seen or heard of Virgil? Haven't seen him around any of the blogs for quite some time. Let me know.

What Mulch?

This is all that remains of ...
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... That
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Okay, so I thought about doing another piece of historical fiction, but ...

Monday was so frigging beautiful, we spent most of the afternoon in the yard, and (drum roll please) we finished mulching the gardens around Chez Sarge. Okay, it ain't Versailles but we like it a lot.

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The Missus Herself has turned our yard into something approximating Paradise. Works for me at any rate. And at the end of the day ...

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Nothing like an adult beverage to wash down the dust from the mulching.

My Mondays are so much better than they used to be. A fellow could get used to this retirement thing. Personally? Five stars, no doubts.

Ciao!

Moving Mulch

Your Humble Scribe, his Pile o' Mulch, and his Trusty Wheelbarrow
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For many of the years we've lived in Little Rhody, The Missus Herself has had gardens. Lots and lots of gardens. Somewhere there is an extent photo of her the first spring we were here. She's standing by herself in a yard full of absolutely nothing. Within a couple of years she has terraformed our yard into something quite pleasant.

Me? I pick things up and put them down.

Mulch is one of those things, though that wasn't always the case. Back when I had a paying gig I would always try to find an excuse to be elsewhere during "mulch weekends." I've written about that before ...

Now last year, my first year of complete retirement, we did not mulch. So I didn't need an excuse to dodge my term behind the wheelbarrow. This year?

I had no excuse. But as I'm retired and have no need to join the rat race Monday through Friday, I can mulch to The Missus Herself's heart's content and then take my repose as I will. During the week when all you working stiffs are laboring for "the man." (Or "the woman" as was my lot in life at times. Didn't bother me, two of my all time favorite bosses were ladies, to include the one I had before retiring from the last job. She was pretty much the only reason I worked until I was 71 years of age. I enjoyed the work I was doing but she made it painless, she screened me from having to deal with folks outside the lab. Which I really appreciated. Now I work for a woman 24/7 and you really should pity The Missus Herself, I'm a terrible employee.)

So it was a mulching I did go.

Your Humble Scribe works the shovel
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Now imagine The Missus Herself in the background of that last photo yelling "Put yer back into it laddie!"

I wonder if there is such a thing as a sea shanty for mulching? Ya know, "Roll the Old Wheelbarrow" or some such thing ...

Back at ya next week with new fiction and probably more tales of mulch and high adventure.

Or something ...

Spring at Chez Sarge

One of my favorite spots is at that wee table. Has been for a number of years.
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Spring has sprung, so to speak. The arrival of decent weather on Thursday coincided with the arrival of a vast pile of mulch and the need to prepare the koi pond for summer. Which means emptying it out, scrubbing out the old algae and such, then refilling it with fresh water.

Something the fish seem to appreciate, they're not enamored of the process, which requires moving them to a temporary pond then back to the big pond when it's all ready. They're not big fans of being caught in a net, twice. Though they do seem to enjoy the nice clean water.

I too am not a huge fan of the process as it requires manual labor. The moving of things, the cleaning of pumps and the like, and the hauling of hoses to refill the beast. I will leave it to your imagination what the bottom of the pond smells like after a long winter. Yeah, it's bad.

Truth be told though, The Missus Herself does all the hard work, I just lift heavy things.

So no fiction today, my back is aching, my legs are sore, and all I want to do is vegetate.

So, assuming broccoli mode in 5 ...

4 ...

3 ...

2 ...

1 ...

The Pond looking all clean, waterfall is back in action after a long winter.
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The grass has been cut, if you look closely, yes, I missed a spot.
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Chez Sarge is ready for summer.
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My little refuge.
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Mount Moremulch
(Gets taller every year!)
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Trees are leafing up, soon everything will be green.
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Yes, the hedge is a work in progress.
The low spots are where old trees once stood.
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Yup, a long day's work requires an adult beverage at the end.
Hey, I don't make the rules.
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That's all for now. Friday and Saturday are mulch moving days, don't expect much in the way of posting. But I promise, no more six hour videos. And yes, that material will be on the final.

Ciao!