Last Updated: 10/31/13

1. I linked in some old pond photos:

Here are photos of the three orange goldfish that I got from a relative's relative on 5/16/13. They were in a 10 gallon aquarium for quarantine.
Three goldfish - 5/17/13
Three goldfish - 5/17/13
Three goldfish - 5/28/13 with cloudy water, day of release to the 1800 gallon pond

From 5/17/13:
Big pond area - view from below the pond, facing southeast.
Big pond area - view facing southwest
Yellow flag iris flower in my 20 gallon tub pond
Yellow flag iris - this is some non-flowering yellow flag iris that I removed from having been dumped the previous September after a repotting. It was still alive so I gave it some water and sold it.

From 5/18/13, fish (mostly goldfish) in the 1800 gallon pond being fed:
Pond fish - koi Riley on the right
Pond fish - koi Nikita on the bottom
Pond fish - koi Colin on the right (the biggest fish) and koi Alex at the left bottom

From 5/24/13:
Yellow flag iris blooming in the 1800 gallon pond.
Yellow flag iris blooming in the 20 gallon pond, close-up
Yellow flag iris blooming in the 20 gallon pond, from a distance

2. On 10/6/13, I did pond chores. It's supposed to be fall but the air temperature was 84 degrees F, and it was hot! The 1800 gallon was at 70 degrees F, and the 153 gallon was at 71 degrees F. I did the usual, squirted all the flosses, and squirted the bioballs. It hasn't rained in a few months so I couldn't repot more iris (can't dig up fresh dirt) but it's going to finally really rain tomorrow so maybe next week. After five weeks without a drop of mulching, I finally put down three bags on seven plants (not many for that many bags).

The woman on the morning news said to put flowers like mums in your fall garden so that your garden would smile. My gardens are all crying! They are overrun by weeds, haven't been mulched in more than a year, and it hasn't rained in a few months. I can only do so much when I'm essentially doing three full time jobs (only one paid as a sort of secretary, the other two being taken care of my animals and taking care of my parents, the house, and the land).

3. The morning of 10/8/13, Tinkie was acting strange in the basement. I thought that she had a cricket but it was a tree frog! I think it's a spring peeper. I've been bringing in house plants for the winter, one each day, and he/she must have hitched a ride. I took a bunch of photos and let him/her go outside. Luckily, it rained all the day before so he/she wouldn't dry out before finding someplace to hide/live.

The day took a turn for the worse though when I later went outside to find that the pump in my 153 gallon pond was doing nothing. I ran an extension cord out there and still nothing. A radio confirmed that the porch outlet was working so the pump must be dead. I pulled it out when I got home from work. It was warm. I didn't even take it apart to see what the problem was because there was some exposed wiring so in the trash it went. I keep a spare Mag Drive 700 at all times, and the new one worked fine when I set it up.

4. Here are some more old photos from last spring that I linked in to my web site:

Photos of the pond iris in bloom on 6/4/13:
White and Colorific Iris
Colorific Iris - close-up
White Iris - close-up
Purple Iris - close-up
White and Colorific Iris

Female bullfrog in a pot in my 1800 gallon pond on 6/4/13.

More photos of the pond iris in the big pond in bloom on 6/5/13. They were so gorgeous!
Purple, White, and Colorific Iris from a distance
Purple, White, and Colorific Iris
Purple and White Iris
Purple, White, and Colorific Iris - so many blooms!
Purple, White, and Colorific Iris - so awesome! Can you tell I like iris?

I got photos of a rare damselfly that had been hanging around our driveway on 7/20/13. He was a male Ebony Jewelwing, Calopteryx maculala.
Ebony Jewelwing
Ebony Jewelwing

Here are some photos of the big pond, koi, orfe, and goldfish on 7/28/13:
1800 Gallon Pond and Fish including all four koi from a distance
1800 Gallon Pond and Fish including three of the koi from a distance
1800 Gallon Fish - goldfish and three of the koi - Nikita at the top right, Alex in the middle, and Riley at the bottom right

5. On 10/13/13, I did a few hours of pond chores in the light rain. Both ponds were at 62 degrees F. I changed the PondMaster filters, squirted off all the filter materials, and put in additives. I didn't need to add water as it rained all week which we really needed. I netted about 12 more goldfish from the back pond and moved them to the big pond along with a few dozen green frog tadpoles. I cut down one pot of dwarf cattails and cut a few other assorted marginals. I pulled some pot-jumping sweetflag out of the yellow waterlily pot. I discovered a big (at least 4" x 4") hole in the middle of my net which is only a year old! I will have to sew it with fishing line when I get in next week. Once again, I got none of these chores done: repotting iris, collecting leaves (with mower or rake), weeding, mulching, lifting tropical bulbs for the winter, planting new bulbs, and generally cleaning up the worst looking "gardens" on the planet.

6. Some more pond photos, and I'm caught up linking in photos!

Here are photos of my brother sitting by my pond on 9/1/13. I call him the "Thinking Man" because he seems to be postulating something intense.
Pond with brother - from a distance. The pond area was completely taken over by weeds! You can see my biggest fish, koi Colin.
Thinking Man - he does not see me inside taking photos.
Thinking Man - ut oh, he sees me, and he's not happy!
Thinking Man - now he hides. Or, maybe he's doing his impression of "Monkey, see no evil."

On 9/29/13, I took these photos of the ponds. I took the half net off the pond and took these photos before I put on the full net for the fall.
153 gallon pond area but you cannot really see the pond. The garden is all weeds!
153 gallon pond
1800 gallon pond facing southwest
1800 gallon pond facing southwest
Emmy from inside, watching me take photos; the pond is reflected in the glass
1800 gallon pond facing northwest
1800 gallon pond - deep area and waterfall

7. On 10/20/13, I did some usual pond chores and some winterizing. The 1800 gallon pond was down to 56 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 59 degrees F. I squirted off the flosses. I dismantled the Cyprio filter for the year. I sewed the big hole in the net using a needle and fishing line. I think I got the rest of the yard decorations inside (I always miss a few). We are expecting first frost this week so I got in the rest of the potted plants that we bring in. I have yet to move the lotus for the winter, cut down any marginals really, sink certain pots, or bring in the tropical waterlily. There is a lot going on with my family and none of it is good so time is limited. I found a poor dead 1" pickerel frog in my 50 gallon tub pond. There was no reason for it.

Unrelated to the ponds, I dug up the tropical Peruvian daffodils, calla lilies, and gladiolas and brought them inside in paper bags for the winter. I put this note in for myself!

8. I did pond work on 10/27/13. I poured buckets of water from the back 30 gallon liner pond through an aquarium net and removed about a dozen small goldfish and some 100 green frog tadpoles. They went in to the 1800 gallon pond. I left a few inches of water in there so some tadpoles (and maybe fish) will be overwintering in there and may or may not make it depending on what kind of winter that we have. I filled the 30 gallon pond back up. I topped off the other tub ponds.

I turned over the 12 gallon lotus tub pond. I pulled out a few good large tubers and a few stringy ones. I put all of them in a mesh bag with a rock and sunk it in the deep end of the pond.

The 1800 gallon pond was down to 48 degrees F, and the 153 gallon was down to 51 degrees F. I squirted off the remaining filter materials. I tried to get leaves off the net. I had no time to rake leaves around the pond, repot the rest of the iris, cut down marginals, or weed anything.

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