00goddess

A long time ago, I had a popup greenhouse to cover the pond. It lasted a few years. I've been sitting here, paused in writing, asking myself why I never replaced it when moving back to the small stock tank and I don't have an answer. I guess something to do with my broken, PTSD'd brain. (I think the events of 2020-21 did permanent damage to my brain and memory.) 

Anyway, I just replaced it. The one I ended up with is smaller than I wanted and smaller than my old one, but it was also only $60. The pond barely fits inside it but I didn't want to go through the BS of sending it back and waiting for a new one, etc. So it's tiny but it works.

I also bought an aquarium filter. They have improved a LOT since the last time I tried one (which did not work well for various reasons.) This one has a titanium element in a plastic cage, and a digital thermostat. I installed everything on Saturday and gave it overnight and the next morning to warm up, and it is working! The heater's thermostat is about 5 degrees behind the temperature, as many reviewers said, so after checking on it on Sunday I adjusted it a bit. The heater is right near the pre-filter, so water should be moving past it pretty regularly.

I put the pond pump back on a schedule; the plants are established enough to survive it, especially with the greenhouse. It goes off at sunset, then starting at around 1am it comes on for half an hour, then off for 3, just to keep the warmth circulating around the pond, and comes back on for good an hour after "sunrise." (Which I put in quotes because it's not really sunrise imo.) On Monday, the day was pretty warm (76 in the afternoon, though it got cold at night) and the pond was actually 75 in the early evening. The greenhouse itself was also quite warm. What a relief: this means that Al can SAFELY stay outside through the winter. It is such a weight off my chest. I wish I had bought this years ago, but again, bad brain.

I can't even describe what a huge relief this is to me, how much dread it removes from my life, and relief it adds to my life.

Also when I was cleaning the pond, right before putting up the greenhouse, I found one surviving shiner! Amazing! Maybe there are more? This guy has learned to lay low and be sneaky.

Gotta figure something out for Rex. But this is progress.

The pond pump was acting up, so right before I got sick I pulled it out and had a good look, and it wasn't fixable.

So I ordered a new one, then was too sick to put it all together. So  it has been sitting here for a few days. Yesterday B asked if he could set it up if I told him what to do. Fortunately, I had already assembled everything up- and down-stream of the pump, so it was pretty easy. He stuck it all together, I roughly leveled the biofilter, and it was good to go.

I think the old pump had been declining for awhile, they usually slow down before they fail entirely, and the new one is the same model and speed but pumping much more quickly.

When I pulled the pump out to dismantle it, I took that opportunity to dismantle the biofilter and rinse the media, and replace the hoses with new, longer ones. I replaced the hoses because the last time I had to reconfigure things, they ended up a bit short, and because I've never been crazy about the way this particular setup was configured. I bought replacement hoses months ago and have been waiting to have time/energy/weather to get it done. The pump dying was a good time to do it.

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I keep nitrile gloves around the house for various cleaning and etc. Last week I went out to feed the turtles and I was wearing the blue gloves because I was going to also water the plants and I inevitably end up messing around with soil and etc.

So here's the funny part: I went to the pond to feed Al. He started swimming toward me and was on his way until he spotted the blue gloves. He stopped for a second, staring at my hands, then he turned around and swam in the opposite direction! He went and hid under the biofilter and would not come out! Isn't that hilarious and adorable? I don't know what bothered him about the blue gloves, but he was sure he was having none of that.

The world is a cesspool of trauma so let's talk about other stuff!

- the garden might get regraded as soon as next week. We are waiting for the dude to let us know. if this is the case it means we have to bust our butts this weekend to get everything moved and piled on the patios. This includes draining the pond.

- we thought we were going to be scheduled a month out, so B wanted to plan where the new turtle pen was going to be, to ask the landscaping team to dig the trench for the turtle fence. That's probably not going to happen by Tuesday, but I guess this weekend we can have a look at the yard and figure it out.

-I really, really want to have almost the entire yard turtle-fenced in, though that might present complications when it comes to replacing the human fences; the fences which have not fallen down yet are in bad shape, but we think our neighbors will not want to replace them until they actually fall down, because the neighbors on those sides are assholes.

- I am very excited about Rex having this huge, enriching space. I want to also put the pond into the ground so he and Al can share it, but I am not sure if that is worth the work and expense; we have been in this house for 2 years and our plan is to stay 3-5, then buy another place and keep it for a rental. Actually, laying it out like that, it's unlikely that we will be moving in one year (though I wish!) so we might as well do it.

- Speaking of the garden, we had a rough summer. Some of my herbs just didn't make it, it was so hot and dry (and I wasn't out there watering every day, but I do have wine bottles in most of the herbs. It still wasn't enough.) But the last 3 weeks we have had frequent rain and cloudy days, and the plants are all doing great! My Texas Tarragon in particular is a beast- it died all the way down in July and in September it came back!

- Our neighbors are weird. They asked B if they could borrow our weedwhacker, he said "Yes, let me go get it," and when he came back with it, they were gone. Then 2 hours later they were outside with a different weedwhacker doing their yard.