The Good Banter Thread

[sissy]

Sorry to hear that mogsie but some people are not happy with there lives so they jump on and say nasty things instead of being nice and polite.Classical music and any kind of music is put out there to sooth the sole not to be abused by know it all's .Glad orri is doing great and sleeping for you sounds like he is a good baby .They never heard of not bullying people about music I guess .

 

[CountryEscape]

Sooooo correct, Mogsie! We take anyone and everyone here, and we all had to start somewhere, and doesn't it make sense that we start with professionals and people who have had ponds for years, who so generously give of their time to let us know we are doing a good job, or what trouble we may encounter if we do the plan we have in mind? Geesh ... come into the 21st century, everyone ... times are changing, and if you are stuck in the past, you will lose out on many new friends. I love this forum, too.
Do we get to see a picture of Baby Orri soon????

 

[Mike in Vermont]

Mike, my brother, sister and I dove when we were in Cozemel a couple of weeks ago. Hope you get some good underwater pics. Would love to see what you find! Have fun, and enjoy the warmth! Hopefully your home weather will be much better when you get back home.

Thanks. New batteries in the underwater camera. I hope the weather is better, when we return. 92 F here yesterday. Feels like -5 F right now back home, and that's in the city where it's warmer.

 

[addy1]

I joined a bee forum, just like with ponds, there are a 1000 ways to do the same thing. The bee forum peeps are really decent and willing to help. No all out attacks if you mess up.
On the bee forum I am a baby in diapers when it comes to bee keeping.

 

[sissy]

addy invented new thing bee diapers

 

[j.w]

Chin up Mogsie, some people are just snobs. You ignore them and go on w/life.Always room here for a new ponder that needs help.
Glad your little Orri is being a good baby for you

 

[TAHOE]

My well water is only slightly hard, but there is a water softener in the house, and I love that. My house water has salt in it, and I don't like to drink it (because of the water softener), but I love how no water spots on any of the water fixtures. I added an outside faucet that comes straight from my well before going into the softener. For some stupid reason, the previous owner had both outside faucets coming AFTER the softener. I didn't want to waste the salt, nor did I think softened water would be good for the fish. Turns out the well water is awesome, and I don't have to add anything to it or worry about chlorine. I'm extremely lucky as "city water" is in this area, but the previous owner did not opt for adding it, nor did the other two houses on this road, as we all have really good wells.

So does your well have the saltiness before the softener or after? People think they get a bunch of salt from softeners when that's incorrect. The softener works primarily by some type of media inside the charge chamber, usually a resin media, the salt is used to clean off the minerals on the media. You actually get more salt from eating a piece of bread than drinking of gallon of "softened" water.
My old house had great water, slightly hard, I could drink it with or without the softener. All my fish tanks and pond used softened water, hosed it directly into tanks/pond without treating, great water.
My "new" old farm house has such a high calcium content, it would kill everything if I used it, a standard softener will not work either, we are looking into drilling a new well.
I can fill up a gallon bucket with water, let it evaporate, I am left with a layer of crystal salts on the bottom, it horrible.

 

[CountryEscape]

Wow, Tahoe, now you have me wondering about the salt. When I use the softened water in the ice cube trays, there is salt residue on the trays after I dump the ice cubes. Now I use bottled water for ice, it's so crystal clear. I should try my well water before the softener in ice cube tray and then I would know if it's in the water itself! Guess since softener uses salt to soften the water, I figured the salt in the water was FROM the softener.

 

[TAHOE]

Wow, Tahoe, now you have me wondering about the salt. When I use the softened water in the ice cube trays, there is salt residue on the trays after I dump the ice cubes. Now I use bottled water for ice, it's so crystal clear. I should try my well water before the softener in ice cube tray and then I would know if it's in the water itself! Guess since softener uses salt to soften the water, I figured the salt in the water was FROM the softener.

We get that same white residue on ice trays or even plastic wear if we let air dry. It maybe slight salt residue I don't know, never worried about it, just a nuisance. If you are worried about it, get a sample checked, sometimes your locAL health depth or water treatment will check free or cheap.
That is a misconception that the salt in a softener does the softening of the water when it's there for cleaning of the resin bed only. The resins attracted the minerals in the water which removes hardness, then the salt removes the minerals from the resin, "recharging" it.
my softened water at the old house never affected any of my fish or turtles.

 

[CountryEscape]

OK, that makes more sense to me, Tahoe. I never had it explained like that before. Thanks! And, it wasn't so much that the softened water would hurt the fish. I just figured if I was going to feel like water for my ponds and landscaping was "free", I needed to run straight well water, not use salt and softened water. LOL I figure the plants like the harder water with more minerals anyhow. My water is not very hard, though, as 5 bags of salt last 6 months or so!

 

[mogsie]

hello again all, been a hactic couple of weeks here, i put up a 2 meter high dividing fence between me and my neighbour, so i can have a bit of privacy, they complained to me that as it was solid, it was casting a shadow in their garden (winter sun) but i agreed to compromise and i took the fence down and replaced it with a bamboo fence same hieght, and they still complained, so i told them it was staying ! now as it is over 1.8 meters i should have applied for permission from local council, (but i didnt) the neighbours also then complained about my pond (they must have looked into it and discovered i should have had planning permission for that also, which i didnt) anyways yesterday i had a visit from the council planning officer, he had a look at the fence and said it was fine, and he just loved the pond, infact he stood watching the fish for 15 minuted ! he said the pond is lovely and that is ok too, so he has granted me retrospective permission for both, gee the neighbours are going to be happy about that ! hehe, was really shocked with them though after everything me and mirka has done for them since they moved in 18 month ago, gave them furnature for the house and things for their baby, i fitted flooring for them and shelves and fixed washing machine in for them and let them use our wifi until they got sorted out, well the list is too long too type out on here of everything we have done, and they turned really nasty over a fence, she was swinging on the fence saying she would tear it down !! shocking behaviour . but all sorted now i hope ! anyways here is a more recent pic of baby orri, he really is coming on fine now !

 

[j.w]

What a cutie! He's got pinchable cheeks for sure

Sorry about your neighbors and boy talk about ungrateful after all you did for them. Makes it kind of hard to be neighbors w/them but guess you are stuck w/them for now.

 

[mogsie]

yeah JW, i do my best to get along with neighbours as i have to live in close proximity to them and i dont like confrontation or awkward situations, it maybe resolve itself, but anyways i have a feeling they wont stay there for too long (not because of me) but they are from london, city dwellers and they dont in my experience last here in the northern rural parts of the country, they usually miss city life and move back ! we will see, but yes he is putting on the pounds now is little orri, poor mirka she is breastfeeding all the time, she has no rest !

 

[sissy]

orri is a cutie mogsie .I think he looks more like Mirka though.Wait looked closer he has your high forehead and not your ears but has your cheeks

 

[CountryEscape]

What a doll! Obviously, little Baby Orri is very well fed, thanks to Mirka. Good for her. I love to see a chubby breast fed baby. Lately, in this area, when girls/ladies say they are breast feeding, it simply means they bought some high priced breast pump, and then put their milk into a bottle to feed to the baby. Geesh ... I get it, that milk IS the best, but what is the point? The whole idea of true breastfeeding is the ultimate bonding mom gets with the baby. My daughter is 7 months pregnant, going to breast feed. I did both of my kids, and I would do it again in a minute, loved every minute of it, even if I was the only one that could feed them for the first 4-6 months. I would not trade that time for anything.