Mi pawnd rebild tew

[sissy]

The strawberry plants look good and healthy and like the blue festuca it looks great

 

[fishin4cars]

Really does look nice, hard to believe it has transformed that much just since spring! the plants and the fish are really growing!

 

[sissy]

The fish will love those strawberries also

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I was talking to someone this evening about the changes in my backyard, and though it might be an interesting comparison of the differences in the yard between my last big project, and adding the pond. In 2003 I decided to build a large-scale trebuchet. I've tried to match up pictures of that Summer with the most recent pictures taken from the same spots, just to show how much transition my yard has been through. Hope you enjoy

2003

2011

2003

2011

2003

2011

It's been 8 years between the pictures. What a huge difference!

 

[j.w]

I should say there is a big diff and it looks wonderful!
Oh and what did you fling in that flinging thing?

 

[Shdwdrgn]

After 8 years, there has been a lot of rework done to the trebuchet. In fact the original one was starting to fall apart, so I rebuilt a brand new one last year. In two weeks, I'll be hauling it up to Estes Park for the Scottish Highlands festival, and we spend the weekend throwing bowling balls into the lake for the amusement of the crowds. I'm also leaning towards doing the punkin chunkin this year.

Here's what it looks like now... For reference, the top of the frame stands about 12'6.

 

[j.w]

Whoa now that would be something to see in action. I remember seeing one being built on a t.v show called Little People and the youngest kid getting hurt somehow by it. Now what is the purpose for building one? Is it just for fun or can you make some money using this contraption? They used it for tossing pumpkins on that show. Wondering who built the first one? I imagine it was for war if I remember correctly. Used for throwing big iron balls or ? over the walls of the enemy.

 

[addy1]

How neat! love the changes to your yard. Post some video of that thing in action you built, how cool!

 

[Shdwdrgn]

@j.w - The first concept of a catapult is believed to have come from Chinese fishing boats. They had their nets on the end of poles, and someone probably pulled down too hard and flung the fish over the other side of the boat. The trebuchet is particular because of the way the weight bucket hangs from the end of the arm. This arrangement not only gives the projectile and extra kick, but it also makes the machine very accurate. During a battle, the trebuchet could fire 200 pound granite rocks at a single spot on a castle wall for days at a time, until they broke through the wall.

@addy - But of course I have videos! Take a look at http://madsplatter.net/2010/movies/
This folder contains all the shots we took of test-firing the new machine last Summer.

 

[addy1]

I will do that, going to wait till I get home though, our connection is slow here, works great, but a slow feed for videos.

 

[HARO]

WOW!! You must have had some nervous neighbours when you were building THAT! John :yikesu:

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Haro - nervous enough that if I leave it parked on the street for too long around the time of the festival, the City starts coming by asking questions. However most of the neighbors came by to talk about it while I was building it, and some bring their kids by to learn more about them. It's all fun.

 

[sissy]

They have the punkin chunkin in Pennsylvania and also the small tomato toss machine fun to watch

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Time for more pictures? Sure, why not? I figured I would grab one more set of shots before things start dying off from the cold that's coming.

Here's the view when you first walk through my gate. All of the grass at the bottom was planted in August and it still pretty patchy, but its trying. The area to the far left in front of the filter has been planted with a lot more iris bulbs this month, which should fill in the whole space nicely and help to cover up the barrel some. This view shows approximately one half of my back yard, so I really committed a lot of space to the new pond, but it is so totally worth it!

Another view from this side of the pond

Looking back across the whole pond. We have a new (used) cat who was checking out the neighbor's yard, and the dog was very interested in what the cat would find.

One more close-up from this angle. I'm really excited that the moneywort is finally growing down into the water. This will provide a great jump-start for it next Spring, and the clumps of plants provide the cover needed for new babies to hatch and survive.

And finally an overhead view of the main pond. The lizard-tail plants took off really well, and will hopefully grow to span all the way across next year. My mini-cattail really flared out (first year its grown more than 6" tall) and we really loved how it looked, so I will be getting more of those next year to also fill in the gravel. I swear the koi enjoy ramming their way through the middle of plants, so only those with the most solid roots survived. The corkscrew grass was disappointing, however it did literally get hacked apart and ripped out of its old container, so perhaps next year it will do better.

 

[j.w]

How nice and green everything looks and man next year just think how much more it will fill in! Your grass is sure green also. Have you been getting tons of rain or just keeping it well watered? I like how the plants look growing in the gravel. And you have no problems w/ critters I guess.