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Post by reindeermoss on Aug 17, 2013 7:21:23 GMT -8
Don't be disappointed. These still take a lot of imagination to see that I will ever get the job done. First I will give you two pix of my other pond (so you know where I am headed). The reason the pond got emptied was because there was five inches of mud and muck on the bottom, so the water never got clear. Now I have chased my tail on this for six weeks and I have to push to get all the fish, frogs and tadpoles back into their space. These two pictures were taken from my studio/work room (showing my pond not currently under construction).
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Post by reindeermoss on Aug 17, 2013 7:24:03 GMT -8
This shows the main pond. I am lining the walls with boulders now. Before you could see the black rubber liner below the waterline. Hoping this labor-intensive effort will enhance the illusion that this was created by nature.
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Post by reindeermoss on Aug 17, 2013 7:27:07 GMT -8
This shows a little stream that will dump into the pond. When my husband saw it in the concrete stage he said, "You know, this makes me think of Disney World." I told him that our visit to the Animal Kingdom was what made me realize I could just create a stream. (Walt had a bigger crew, so I am sure his went together faster.)
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Post by reindeermoss on Aug 17, 2013 7:33:20 GMT -8
This is a little feeder stream along the other edge of the pond with deeper areas. It is a good place for tadpoles because the big hungry goldfish are in the main pond. A smaller version of this existed before, but I figured as long as I was doing this I'd go for broke and make it work better as a sanctuary for my little creatures. A lot of these big rocks came from my grandmother's family farm in central PA. I love that farm, so I have hauled as much of it back to VA as possible. Sorry I did not move that dog food bowl before I took this one. I had pebbles and little tools stored there.
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Post by originalbunnymom on Aug 17, 2013 8:29:22 GMT -8
What an AMAZING undertaking!!!
THANKS so much for taking the time/effort to share this with us.
I LOVE that some of the boulders with the family farm history are now gracing your VA abode.
Please keep pics coming if time allows...
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Post by faithcoleridge on Aug 17, 2013 14:31:28 GMT -8
Diane, you should be very proud of all the hard work you've put in to make your home such a special place.
Thanks for sharing the photos with us.
Rainbows, Susan
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Post by Fia on Aug 18, 2013 15:01:19 GMT -8
These pics are so cool. What an awesome project. Can't wait to see more. Thanks so much for sharing.
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Post by reindeermoss on Aug 22, 2013 8:24:17 GMT -8
Marianne asked where the goldfish were currently being corralled. Most went into the other pond, though I was reluctant to do that. They will never want to move back. Some small ones are in the many tubs of aquatic plants I temporarily have all over my deck. As many as I safely could jam together got put into two 40-gallon tanks in my house. (Why do I have two 40-gallon fish tanks you may ask? An inebriated guest once fell into the pond, carrying with him a sizable piece of flagstone. He blamed it all on a bad reaction to a cigarette. Yeah, right. Anyway, I had to empty the pond and replace the damaged rubber liner he had wrecked, and the fish needed to live inside during that rehab.) Anyway, here is a picture of the ones living inside currently. I think they'll be happy to be back in the larger space. Sorry, there are a lot of reflections in this picture.
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Post by Fia on Aug 22, 2013 10:17:35 GMT -8
Beautiful fish. I don't know anything about fish...except how to cook and eat them. Do these grow up to be the big koi fish?
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Post by originalbunnymom on Aug 22, 2013 10:22:45 GMT -8
Yes. ITA - beautiful!!
Any idea about how many you have all together?
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Post by reindeermoss on Aug 22, 2013 11:19:05 GMT -8
Beautiful fish. I don't know anything about fish...except how to cook and eat them. Do these grow up to be the big koi fish? Goldfish and koi are two different species. None of my goldfish have gotten bigger than about ten inches long, and some of these may have been in my pond for eleven or twelve years. (They were ten-cent feeder fish from WalMart when we got them.)
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Post by reindeermoss on Aug 22, 2013 11:24:20 GMT -8
Marianne, there are hundreds. It is amazing. When I was putting plants in the wading pool there inexplicable appeared about 80 tiny baby goldfish, "spontaneous generation." I am having a hard time coming up with a scenario I fully believe. There must have been [invisible] goldfish eggs in some container I was using. I was counting the ones I took out of the under-construction pond and lost count. Just in a little header pond at the top of the hill I netted out 41 bullfrog tadpoles the last day I was emptying bodies of water. To me that is mind-boggling.
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Post by Fia on Aug 22, 2013 13:28:56 GMT -8
Ten inch long goldfish? To me that is mind boggling. Oh I wish I had a pond with tadpoles. I love frogs. But sadly, my dogs and kitty would probably kill them. If the heat didn't kill them first.
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Post by reindeermoss on Aug 23, 2013 10:07:07 GMT -8
If this appears twice with different wording, blame it on the thunderstorm. These two photos show my leak test of the waterfalls. After a failed test yesterday, I put in a lot more expanding foam to seal leaks. This is just a little trickle coming across the flat stone, but a pond pump should increase that flow dramatically. You can see this is powered only by a garden hose today. The weird blobs of silvery stuff are the foam. That can be removed with a knife later and I hope will be almost invisible.
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Post by Fia on Aug 23, 2013 10:50:44 GMT -8
That is sooo awesome, Diane!
It's like you live in a magical forest!!!
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Post by reindeermoss on Aug 23, 2013 11:47:00 GMT -8
Yep, Fia, and I am building that magical forest one rock at a time.
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Post by originalbunnymom on Aug 23, 2013 12:48:15 GMT -8
Absolutely SPECTACULAR!!!
I know your intention is eventually for a greater flow of water, but the pic of the flat rock with the trickle looks so serene...
Do you hire out, ma'am?
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Post by reindeermoss on Aug 23, 2013 12:52:04 GMT -8
Absolutely SPECTACULAR!!!
I know your intention is eventually for a greater flow of water, but the pic of the flat rock with the trickle looks so serene...
Do you hire out, ma'am? That would be a tough commute.
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Post by Fia on Aug 23, 2013 15:47:30 GMT -8
so um...does that mean Calif. is out of the question?
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Post by reindeermoss on Aug 23, 2013 16:11:27 GMT -8
Well, for openers I'm scared of quakes, so that alone might be the dealbreaker.
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