Whatcha doing today?

[JBtheExplorer]

I went to the annual chainsaw carving festival at the nature center this morning. It was pretty disappointing. Nothing like what it's been in recent years. The weather was the best it's had in the past six years, but there were only a few carvers there. They used to have eight or ten. They also turned the event and faced it east, which sounds minor, but you had to stare toward the sun, which made it hard to see what they were doing. They also have a craft fair, but it seemed like there were fewer people there as well.

I always thought it was a pretty cool event. It's a shame that its falling apart.

 

[JamieB]

Pond dig rough start! Now working with shovels to put in the steps and such! On a sad note, rescue kitty Ryder is with Gemma’s dog Yoda now, apparently she passed for unknow reasons while I was at work today. She purred for me when I checked on her this morning, but was gone by the time anyone else got up.

 

[j.w]

@JamieB so sorry about poor little kitty Ryder.

Your pond is gonna be a nice big one!

 

[JamieB]

@JamieB so sorry about poor little kitty Ryder.

Your pond is gonna be a nice big one!

Aiming to be roughly 14ft across half circle 3- 3 1/2 ft deep. So maybe the circle will be more half oval, and it’ll have steps along the sides. Debating on a ramp for frogs and turtles. I know I’ll have full time frogs, and may end up with turtles.

 

[addy1]

Sorry about your kitty

Your pond is going to look great!

 

[JamieB]

Dad dug the south side strait down, so I’m having to shift dirt to build up for the steps. I’m taking most of what I need from the north and east side, trying to carve my steps in on those areas at the same time. Trying not to kill any toads either, cause we literally dig up over 30 toads digging this. I’m guessing it’ll be a very cold winter here. So the forecast says I can expect rain and storm on my days off, which means I have Monday Tuesday to do my bulk digging, before work, the. Let the rain do it’s thing so I can see what areas need filled, leveled, packed further. I still have tons of roots to chop out. Then I get to find a good protector for the liner. I’m thinking I may put in a time capsule under the bog, something saying who built it, my design, when, etc. and I’ll leave that till my time is up and someone else takes over and renovates it.
Currently, I’m thinking of adding two features, a turtle/ frog ramp, and a spot carved for me to sit and relax. The pond will be empty of fish until at least next year. I was just given pickerel rush? and I’ve got multiple pots of lillies, so I’ll be doing my best to get it filled and plants installed before winter fully hits.

 

[addy1]

Do you try to bury the toads again? I always wonder where they go for the winter, because in spring they are back full force in the pond dropping a ton of eggs.

 

[JamieB]

Do you try to bury the toads again? I always wonder where they go for the winter, because in spring they are back full force in the pond dropping a ton of eggs.

Nope, just moved them out of the way. Rescued what we could, still found one doa missing a leg today. They’ll find new homes, hopefully not in the big mound of dirt, cause that will be getting moved around to fill in holes.

 

[addy1]

Watching a nice fat praying mantis hang out on the cam.............

 

[SherrysPond]

Thank you guys!

Yoda was an awesome dog! He could give hugs just like people do, and even hold your leg if he didn't want you to leave,
We're gonna miss him for a very long time!
The worst part is that all of us always expected our other dog Webber to go first, he is 12 and always had something wrong since the day we brought him home...Yoda was only 7yrs old and always healthy. We thought he had a stomach upset cause he had one episode of diarrhea and didn't want to eat after that, but then he started eating again and seemed all better.
It was a shock when we found him dead yesterday morning...he looked peaceful like he had died in his sleep, it took a while for us to accept he was gone.
Thank you for all your support
View attachment 124847

He was gorgeous!!

 

[Ronfire]

First snow of the year,way to early. I have not seen snow before the end of October. Hope the fish dont mind when the snow hanger drops into the pond.

 

[SherrysPond]

Thats really pretty..................like a christmas card

 

[addy1]

Very pretty enjoy the snow!

 

[j.w]

Your bird looks good w/it's new hairdo,lol!

 

[addy1]

Well today was the day! Bog yank day.......................

These are the before pictures: yanked out a ton of plants, cut back the yellow flag by half, pulled up a lot of root mass. Easy in pea gravel pull and they come out. The yellow flag had to use a shovel to cut the tubers.

It took about two hours maybe a bit more. This is after: