New pond construction. The Water Garden Pond

[fishin4cars]

JW, it's already fading down some, hopefully once sealed it will stop fading. still have to acid wash and seal once the mortar is finished. If it's a little lighter it won't hurt my feelings.

 

[addy1]

It looks nice, with some time it will look like it has always been there.

 

[j.w]

I don't know what you don't like about it now as it is turning out very nicely. I like it a lot!

 

[fishin4cars]

Ok, Finally getting a good look at what it's going to finish out like. They guys got the porch acid washed and the first coat of sealer on. They will be spraying a second coat but it should have this look for the most part. The more I look the more I'm really liking the final look. Cleaning and sealing made a world if difference!
We found a cool door this weekend in a garage sale. I came home and measured and went back yesterday and bought it. Although the stain doesn't match it does blend well with the gazebo/bridge, deck, and swing. The hand carved ship and design was just to cool to pass up. For a $100 I really thought it looked so much better than the plain door we had. Plus it's solid wood, nothing hollow or layered on this bugger! Only modification that had to be made was re-aligninging the hinges and changing the loks and door knob out.

 

[j.w]

Wow what a neat find Larkin! That door is gorgeous!

 

[addy1]

That is one cool door! What a find!

 

[sissy]

It doen't look so red in these pics .

 

[CountryEscape]

Love the door, Larkin! And, if you don't like the stain of it, you can strip it and redo it .... but I like it the way it is. LOVE the stonework! That's dream stuff for me.

 

[pondlover]

The stone patio is beautiful. I like the dark grout it really showcases the different colors in each stone. Love your door. What a fabulous job you have done.

 

[fishin4cars]

Thank you for the compliments. Seems like it has been forever to finally get this done. Got out this morning and took a few fish pics just because I finally wanted to be in the front yard and it was such a nice day. I took over 300 photo's and these are some of the better ones, Hope everyone enjoys them. The first two are photo's of the stone with one coat of sealer, The next five are the bigger babies from this years spawning. Toby is the cream Hybrid butterfly/comet that has barbels. Also it's growing in leaps and bounds, Toby was easily 4 times bigger than the next biggest baby when we first found it, It's already passed several fish that are an easy year or even two years older than it is. I love the blood red spot on the forehead, and yes it's spot. I wouldn't call it a tancho. lol Then there is the Ki Kumonryu, another hybrid, and the twins. the only fish not one of this years babies in the first five shots is the orange and white. It's a two year old we call half and half. Then we have Miracle, and Bumblebee. Miracle was the yellow baby we found in the filter last year, Bumblebee started off as a kin utsuri gin rin but changed to a hi utsuri. both very small for their ages. Next is red and one of the twins, the oldest and youngest koi in the pond. Sunshine just posed perfect for her shot in the camera and Lucky cruised on in for time in the spotlight as well. Finally some early morning pics from the real pond, the bream are growing and seeing the babies coming in too. the water was so clear today it was just a perfect setting to see the bream and bass. And one final shot across the pond, just starting to see a little fall color.

 

[addy1]

Very nice Larking, great shots neat fish

 

[CountryEscape]

Love that yellow and black in the pic with the red and black! And, Sunshine ... wooeee!!! Pretty! You have some really pretty babies, too, Larkin.
I've never heard of bream, is that some type of bluegill? That's what the close up looks like to me, so wondering if that is a variation of the blue gill fish. Your pond is looking beautiful, I've never seen a farm pond so darn clear! Thanks for sharing the pics on here, where we can comment!
I love that flagstone you have finally gotten completed. It's my dream walkway, but I'll have to settle for stepping stones for now. And your plantings have really taken off since spring. Looking super!

 

[sissy]

well fishen looks like you aregetting closer to your dream and now at least you know dreams do come true even with a few hiccups on the way .

 

[fishin4cars]

CE. Your correct, They are called Bluegill, bream, perch, etc. All depends on where you live I guess. Actually in the pond are what DWLF called green sunfish, We added coppernose bluegill Hybrid bluegill, and redear sunfish when we restocked. But yes they are basically just different types of bluegill. The water doesn't stay that clear all the time. it goes through cycles. No rain the last two weeks, no wind, no pollen and I guess all the plant life still thriving conditions were just really good yesterday, Today different story, can't see them nearly as good as there is a cloudiness to the water and dust has settled on the pond from all the fog last night. Still really neat to watch all of the wild fish come in during feeding time. The bass don't eat the pellets, but they sure come in and wait when the bream come in. There are four bass in the 3#-5# range that stay pretty much together. I'm starting to see them more often. I call them the rat pack. They are really fun to watch. They actually set up a at strategic points and the smallest one will wait until all the "bluegill" start feeding and then make a quick rush in. The other three will wait and attack when the bluegill scatter. Then after that happens two or three times the really big bass makes her pass in. I'm guessing she is in the 7#-8# size but it's hard to guess weight when they are in the water. But I'm fairly comfortable that she is at least that. She never attacks, I guess she feeds differently or in the deep end. But seeing her is a real treat. Then once things settle back down sometimes I will see a few of the channel catfish come up. Been a lot of fun, So far we have seen the big bass on the nest back in the spring, a few times at feeding, and once just cruising the bank. She's easy to pick out as she has a black scar on her forehead that is very distinctive. The wildlife has been a lot of fun as well. So far since we have been here we have spotted, Bullfrogs, leopard frogs, tree frogs both green and camouflage colored barking tree frogs, and a tiny frog I have to identify. Snakes have been King snakes, garter snakes, black racers, Dekalb, Green, Grey Rat, banded water snakes, and the one lone rattlesnake we found shortly after moving here. Lizards, we have mediterranean geckos, anole, Blue tail skinks, five line skinks, red headed skinks, and fence lizards, oh and a small alligator that showed up and left during the hurricane. Turtles include the boxies, red ear sliders, musk, common snappers, map turtles, 1 VERY large alligator snapper, and a huge softshell that is starting to come up and feed on pellets. birds are plentiful but notables are Green heron, snowy heron, Great blue, lesser blue That's the ones that nested and raised their young here. Egrets, Barn and screech owls, a pair of king fishers, ring neck and morning doves and a pair of pileated wood peckers. All these pretty much stay around year round. Rabbits, squirrels, deer, and raccoons. Still not a single animal in the fence and barn area. Good thing too, Since there is still a huge hole in the fence where the tree fell on during the storm. I guess one day we will but for now what we were suppose to get and what we got are two different things. Not that I'm complaining. It's still a lot to take care of and additional animals would just add to it. Still waiting to find out about the Alpaca. I'm guessing she is going to stay with the original owner now. They opened up a new pen and are expanding so that might not happen as planned either. The wife really hasn't shown the intrest she originally showed in all them and I have plenty to take care of, so I quess we will wait a while or until we find something that needs adopting. That's usually how it works, we don't plan very well, we adapt to what animals need care given, or helped that come our way.
Sissy, I wouldn't call this feassco a hic-up more like a bad case of upset stomach, a real PITA if you know what I mean. LOL but yes, this is a gigantic relief to finally have done. and can move on. It is a dream come true, But someone forgot to tell me that dreams that come true can still have nightmares!

 

[sissy]

I have never heard of a dream that does not have some nightmares that come with it .Just seems to be a given ,nothing is ever as easy as it looks .You have an idea in your mind but problem is getting everyone else to see what you are seeing .Been there many a time myself .