Almost There

It's not a 4-speed waterfall. Bill had a pipe rack built against the back wall of his shop and there were still quite a few things on it when the bulldozer pushed the dirt up. I cleared most of it out when we built the waterfall but couldn't lift the transmission. Still can't so it gets buried. Next I have to get the pipe rack cut out, then fill in the hole, then reconcrete the waterfall and spillway, and I'm done. I actually got a lot accomplished today and barely hurt myself. I only smashed my finger with the wrecking bar (think about all of the stuff I could have smashed). But then I sliced the same finger on a piece of tin and the swelling instantly went down so it feels a lot better now.

A Little More Rain

My gauge shows 2/10ths of an inch for last night but it seemed like more than the night before. However much fell, it smelled incredibly good this morning. Our morning walk (which has turned into a morning drive) was invigorating and the park even looked better today. Cashmere, Josh, Linda and Bill had a barbecue for some of our relatives last night but I missed it. Humid and more clouds building for this afternoon.

It is Hot!

Sort of nice, but the heat is killer. It kind of reminds me of Austin, beautiful if you are inside looking through a window, but if you go outside the will to live is instantly sucked out of you. Anyway it will make the cool evening even better. We got 4/10ths of an inch of rain last night and it's building up for some more tonight. We could still have a wet year.

Friday

It's so humid right now that I have difficulty breathing outside, but after the day clears I should be able to finish chipping out the rocks beside the waterfall. My sister turned it on early this morning and the flow hasn't been disrupted or diverted by what has been removed so far, so that's good. We backed the algae bloom off last week, but it seems to be getting ready again. The water is dark brown to almost red this morning. That kind of alarms my sister but I convinced her that we might see several drastic events as we let the plant and animal life populations stabilize. The fish haven't been fed all Summer, and about 150 of the larger ones have been fished out in the past two months, so the fish population should be about right for the amount of water they are in and the natural food available.

Waterfall Progress

I almost have the stone/wood bench detached from the West side of the waterfall (it covers the cavity under the waterfall that I need to fill in) and now it may rain. That's really okay because it can't do any more damage to the shop than has already been done, but Bill may still need a tranquilizer or five. He came out today to see how I was going to repair the leaks and as usual, brought out the absolute worst in me. Instead of asking how I had decided to fix it, he demanded to know why I was doing what I was doing. It was hot, the rocks were heavy, broken concrete and wire were poking into me, and I snarled back, "because I'm the one doing it and it's what I choose". Speaking from a mellow, reflective, pond-induced serenity point of view, I find that some old people can be really annoying and just need to be made aware of it, while others require much stronger action. It's still touch and go between Bill and I, but considering the first 20 years that I knew him, we really get along well now.

Another Pond PM

I still don't have a lot of energy yet, but worked on the waterfall for part of the day. Rocks are heavier, boards are more contrary and the sun is hotter now, and most of that is just me. The water was unusually beautiful today and evening on the berm was still nice.

Okay - I'm Serious Now

I stopped the river that ran through his shop, but can't stop the small stream. For whatever reason, concrete and sedimentary rocks are porous, and many drips become a small stream. I am taking the bench apart and will fill in the cavity between the shop wall and the underside of the waterfall. I argued for that when we built the structure but Bill wouldn't have it. Now he doesn't care what we do but if we don't stop the stream he is shutting down the waterfall. Like I told my sister yesterday, "unfortunately, water runs down hill, so we have to create an uphill side near the shop.

Cracks Patched and One Mystery Solved

Not really much of a mystery. I've had the pond fill-line shut off today so I could patch on the waterfall some more, and I thought that the drain-line was off also, but all day I have watched the water level go down. How could that happen? Just a few minutes ago I walked to the dumpster and noticed that my sister has a sprinkler going from the drain-line. The missing water - mystery solved.

More repair work done on the waterfall and will know tomorrow how well that works out.

Under 100 degrees today and that has been nice.

Sunday Evening

Beautiful day and we accomplished several things at the pond. First, the amount of water flowing into Bill's shop has diminished considerably, but not enough. I just have to trace the rest of the cracks and repair them, which will just take time. Kevin, Christina, and Jacob fished again today and caught 13 more. Jake also cleaned the excess penny-wort out of the East side of the pond and it looks much better now. Cashmere, Cashlyn and I sat on our favorite berm for a few minutes of our favorite evening ritual, then Camron and Jake showed up needing to be entertained. We talked about movies with them until it got dark. It was a pleasant day.

Sunday

Kevin, Christina, and Christiana were visiting Cashmere and Josh yesterday and caught fish for their dinner. I was working on the waterfall and it was nice to see young people enjoying the pond.