Wisconsin Pond Build

[addy1]

I had to look up "Keen" sandals. Wow, those are some nice looking sandals! Wondered how you had sandals that lasted 4 years. I've never seen them around here, probably have to go to bigger cities to find them. My sister likes her Crocs, but I've never owned a pair of them either.
Oops, better get off foot wear on Herz's site. Sorry!

Thanks herz, I was trying to behave in your thread

Patti, my first pair I bought from a store in arizona. My new ones (still wearing the old lol fit like a glove well worn in) I bought off line. There are a bunch of styles to fit what you like.
I have the ones you can wear in salt/fresh water never harms them.

My work boots are 30 years old now, thinking of getting some keen work boots to replace them, but even though the leather is cracked the boots still do the job, so will prob wait.

 

[herzausstahl]

So the eggs finally hatched in the robins nest (the one who built it over the wren house):



Here are the babies:



Mom is back and getting ready to feed them:



Mom watching them.



I also added an inground birdbath with a small solar pump I bought on ebay last year to keep the mosquitos on bay. I plan on making one more and just changing the water out on it or using mosquito dunks or both. I had the solar pump because I bought it last year to see what it would do and seems to be good for this:



Turned out really nice.

 

[sissy]

great job and bet the birds love it and gives them a place to bathe besides the pond

 

[j.w]

3 little babies, so cute! I'd make me one of those neat ground type bird bath's but my cats would lay in wait for the birds.

 

[sissy]

free food and a play toy all in one jw

 

[addy1]

Wonderful shots! thanks for sharing

 

[herzausstahl]

Thanks everyone! I haven't seen any birds in it yet, but don't see any reason why they wouldn't go for it. So here is the second bird bath I put in:



Also I took the fountain head off of the solar pump I had because it was working too well. The water was going about 15-18" in the air and would have been easily blown out of the small pools by the wind, so I took it off and now it works like a bubbler.



I have a second solar pump ordered from Ebay for the second bird bath and I will probably pick up some mosquito dunks for them, just to be on the safe side.

I also finished two more projects and i have about 4 left for the garden and then will be done unless I find something interesting to put in it. So I will post pictures as i comeplete them.

The first of the two projects was creating what looks like a rock grouping (kind of like in a Japanese Garden) but using some rocks, some driftwood, a couple of stumps I found, and some interesting split wood (scraps from stumps that were split with a wood splitter).

So here is the build process:



I arranged all of these pieces in sections and in separate triangles (as in a Japanese garden:



Here is a key for the different pieces of wood I used so you can tell what is what:



The red x's are the stumps I pulled out of the ground, the yellow x's are the rocks, the orange x's are the dritwood, and the blue x's are the split wood fragments.

I also created a new ridgeline to represent the Niagra Escarpement that runs through my area, here it is:



I also added some sticks in the stream and here is what it looks like:

 

[addy1]

Beautiful, fantastic job

 

[CountryEscape]

OMG, how gorgeous, Herz! I love it all, especially the triangle parts that are Japanese style! And, you have done so much work in that area, now it's time to sit back in those comfy chairs and enjoy your hard work.

 

[j.w]

Very nice Herz and if the birds don't come to the bath right away be patient cuz as your trees grow they will find security in having them to fly to for security. Love everything that you have done :beerchug:

 

[sissy]

great start to a stumpery ,They have a big one a husband and wife built just outside Stoneville NC .They have moss and ferns growing from some of there stumps .They got paid by a company to dump them there and then took advantage of the natural look of them and added in large rocks .

 

[herzausstahl]

OMG, how gorgeous, Herz! I love it all, especially the triangle parts that are Japanese style! And, you have done so much work in that area, now it's time to sit back in those comfy chairs and enjoy your hard work.

Thanks Patti, at first I was going to build a japanese garden and have several books on the subject, but then realized I would rather just build it how I wanted, instead of trying to create one following the rules. So I did. But I remembered the idea of the triangles, it helps to keep open spaces. There are other rules for the arangement of rock groupings based on the size/shape of the rocks, but tried to make due the best I could from memory. Glad you like it!

Very nice Herz and if the birds don't come to the bath right away be patient cuz as your trees grow they will find security in having them to fly to for security. Love everything that you have done :beerchug:

Thanks JW, I have the blue alberta spruce near it for ground cover and planted some lily of the valley and have the one stump. I also plan to add some more plants to give them more cover, but they do seem find the stream just fine and bath in it often. I had 3-4 blackbirds bathing in the gorge tonight. Would have gotten a pic but still working on "listening" with my daughter and she scared them away.

great start to a stumpery ,They have a big one a husband and wife built just outside Stoneville NC .They have moss and ferns growing from some of there stumps .They got paid by a company to dump them there and then took advantage of the natural look of them and added in large rocks .

Actually sissy I got the idea from our local garden walk last year where there was a garden that had several that looked really cool. So since then I have been on the lookout for any I can find that look interesting. I have found several on my parents land that look cool, some that I have carried by hand up a hillside, but its been worth it. There are some that I have found there that they take on a charred look as they decay, at first I thought someone tried to burn them to get rid of them (as it is something my dad would do) but they are too scattered for that to be the case. They are pretty cool, and I plan to take pics of the ones that I have and post them. I also found some stumps that my brothers cut from a tree so they wouldn't fall and be a mess in the woods that will make good planters. Will post those too when I have time.

 

[sissy]

you will soon have a full fledged stumpery herz

 

[callingcolleen1]

Just seen all your pictures and everything looks great, good job, nice stream, nice sunny deck to relax! I too like to collect stumps and do stuff with it, maybe we could start a "stumped today" day and feature the cool things people do with stumps!

 

[herzausstahl]

Thanks sissy and colleen that sounds like a good idea!