Possible Freeze Tonight

The pond is absolutely beautiful and the Bittern and Heron are still here every day. Bill said that he is now feeding the fish every other day. The water is so clear now that only about 6' of the bottom is hidden in darkness and I see the fish constantly. A cold front should move in tonight and I sort of look forward to that. Summer also ends - in a day.

Found the Fish

Another excellent morning. I woke up at 5 AM and it was cold, but has warmed up to almost 60 degrees now. Two big surprises in that there is still a whole herd of fish in the pond and Bill has obviously started feeding them again. They came to the surface when I walked by taking pictures of the water and that led me to suspect, then inspect. Sure enough - there is a big bag of fish food in the van and the feeding bucket is still warm from use (not really, it's a metaphor). That's okay. I feel kind of bad about objecting to their being fed all Summer, but I feel even worse when 30 or 40 of the large ones die from being overcrowded during an algae bloom (and really, because this is more of an aphorism).

"Tuesday Afternoon" - not yet

What beautiful weather. The early mornings are very cool, but perfect. For the first time the pond is showing a marked seasonal change. We have enough plants to actually experience a leaf changing colors. This is starting to resemble what I imagined when we started the project. The water is very clear now and although I sometimes get nervous that fish aren't always visible, there seem to be plenty when anyone fishes. Josh's mother is here for a few days from Louisiana and has already decided to catch and cook some of the catfish. She cooked something yesterday that was new and ineresting - rice covered by a delicious gravy topped with shrimp.

Possibly the Wettest Year in our Recorded History

Which is different. We received just over an inch from yesterday afternoon through early this morning, and it has drizzled with occasional rain since then. I love the effects of moisture on the plants, but don't so much care for the personal moldy feeling. The pond is beautiful. Still some lingering bees and lots of bright yellow butterflies, and the blooming plants in the secluded area seem to be lingering longer than usual.

Fall for Sure

Beautiful lately. The nights are in the low 50's and the days are just pleasant. I stroll around the pond a lot, but haven't done much work in the past couple of weeks. Everything is mostly winterized. The local birds have left, but different migrating birds stop by each afternoon. I am even enjoying the wind.

Rainy Sunday

Have wandered around the pond a couple of times today (with Camron) and it is slowly succumbing to Fall. The vine with the small purple flowers is from some seeds that I found in a box belonging to my mom. Interesting, but not much different from the columbine weed. Both are like miniature morning glory plants but this has a different form of flower.

Finally saw a school of koi today but still no catfish cruising the surface.

The New Ride

Cashlyn is getting larger and Cashmere is wearing out. Bill created this new method of transportation during the past week, and she loves it. Mainly she just loves being outside (her hair glows red when she is having a good time). Here they are on their way for a practice run around the pond berm.