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Topics - JohnInFlorida

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1
My first lotus bloom

N. 'Rosea Plena'

I've been watching the bud for about a week now and today ... ta dah!

Cool!

Keep Smilin'
John  :)

2
Pond Chat / Pond has cleared ... finally!
« on: June 17, 2007, 03:25:54 PM »
Things have been sorta challenging here lately ... all was fine, pondwise, till the water temp hit the 70+ degree mark and then it was pea soup time ... We lived with the pea soup for all of May and the first half of June and then ... BOOM ... over the course of about 36 hours everything cleared! It was like someone did a water change while I wasn't looking  @O@  In reality, the change was quite dramatic!

Now that things are clear, I can see the trials and tribulations that await me. The bioload is significantly higher than I thought ...  :o ... In addition to the 4 turtles (2 cooters 6" & 3", 2 softshells both about 4-5") and 3 frogs ... there are 11 koi (from about 13" down to 6"), about 30-35 goldies/shubunkins (ranging from 8" down to 3"). Also, I can now see literally HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of smaller (1.5" down to teeney-weeney) rosy red & fathead minnows, goldfish, etc. as well as THOUSANDS of toadpoles!  :o

I'm not sure that there is anything to be done beyond letting nature take it's course :thinking: but the clearing of the pea soup sure showed that there's lots more going on under the surface than first meets the eye.

3
Pond Chat / Needed: Floating Plants ... GOT SOME ... THANKS!
« on: June 12, 2007, 04:06:20 PM »
I've just got way too much uncovered surface area as the 16 lilies only cover about 15 or 20% of the surface and as such I've been battling green water, big time, for the last 4 or 5 weeks. It's clearing now but I still need more surface cover. Who has extra floating plants? Help!!!   PM me please if you have floaters available with the details ... What kind? How much?
Thanks in advance!

Keep Smilin'
John  :)

4
Chit Chat / An Amazing Tale! ... Enjoy
« on: June 07, 2007, 02:59:44 PM »


-------------------------------------------------
MountainWings       A MountainWings Moment
#7157          Wings Over The Mountains of Life
-------------------------------------------------

For Sale: Slightly Used Tazer
==============================

I bought something really cool for my wife.  The occasion is my
retirement, and I was looking for a little something extra for my
lovely bride.  What I came across was a 100,000-volt, pocket
purse-sized Tazer gun with a clip.

For those of you who are not familiar with this product, it is a
less-than-lethal stun gun with two metal prongs designed to
incapacitate an assailant with a shock of high-voltage, low
amperage electricity while you flee to safety.  The effects are
supposed to be short lived, with no long-term adverse affect on
your assailant but allowing you adequate time to retreat to
safety.  You simply jab the prongs into your 250 lb. tattooed
assailant, push the button, and it will render him a slobbering,
goggle-eyed, muscle-twitching, whimpering, pencil-neck geek.

If you've never seen one of these things in action then you're
truly missing out; it's way too cool!  I've seen several
demonstrations for cops, but I found this handheld one for
civilians.

Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home.  I
loaded two AAA batteries in the darn thing and pushed the
button.  Nothing!  I was so disappointed.  Upon reading the
directions (we don't need no stinkin' directions), I found much
to my chagrin that this particular model would not create an arc
between the prongs.  How disappointing! I do love fire for
effect.

I learned that if I pushed the button, and pressed it
against a metal surface that I'd get the blue arc of electricity
darting back and forth between the prongs that I was so looking
forward to.  I did it.  Awesome!!!  Sparks, a blue arc of
electricity, and a loud pop!! Yipeeeeee... I'm easily amused,
just for your information, but I have yet to explain to her what
that burn spot is on the face of her microwave.

Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself
that it couldn't be all that bad with only two triple-A
batteries, etc., etc.  There I sat in my recliner, her cat
looking on intently (trusting little soul), reading the
directions (that would be me, not the cat) and thinking that I
really needed to try this thing out on a flesh and blood target.

I must admit I thought about zapping the cat for a fraction of a
second and thought better of it.  She is such a sweet kitty
after all.  But if I was going to give this thing to my wife to
protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that
it would work as advertised.  Am I wrong?  Was I wrong to think
that?  It seemed reasonable to me at the time.

So, there I sat in a pair of shorts with my reading glasses
perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one
hand, Tazer in the other.  The directions said that a one-second
burst would shock and disorient your assailant; a two-second
burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a loss of bodily
control; a three-second burst would purportedly make your
assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water.

All the while I'm looking at this little device (measuring about
5" long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference, pretty cute
really, and loaded with two itsy, bitsy AAA batteries) thinking
to myself, "no way!" Trust me, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
What happened next is almost beyond description, but I'll do my
best.

Those of you who know me well have got a pretty good idea of
what followed.  I'm sitting there alone, the cat looking on with
her head cocked to one side as to say, "don't do it buddy,"
reasoning that a one-second burst from such a tiny lil' ole
thing couldn't hurt all that bad (sound, rational thinking under
the circumstances, wouldn't you agree?).  I decided to give
myself a one-second burst just for the heck of it.  (Note: You
know, a bad decision is like hindsight-- always twenty-twenty.

It is so obvious that it was a bad decision after the fact, even
though it seemed so right at the time.  Don't ya hate that?)
I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and
*&%$$#$@##@!!!!!

I'm pretty sure that Jessie Ventura ran in through the front
door, picked me up out of that recliner then body slammed me on
the carpet over and over again.  I vaguely recall waking up on
my side in the fetal position, nipples on fire, testicles
nowhere to be found, soaking wet, with my left arm tucked under
my body in the oddest position.

The cat was standing over me making sounds I had never heard
before, licking my face, undoubtedly thinking to herself, "do it
again, do it again!"

Note: If you ever feel compelled to mug yourself with a Tazer,
one note of caution.  There is no such thing as a one-second
burst when you zap yourself.  You're not going to let go of that
thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent
thrashing about on the floor.  Then, if you're lucky, you won't
lodge one of the prongs 1/4" deep in your thigh like yours
truly.  That hurt!

A minute or so later (I can't be sure, as time was a relative
thing at this point), I collected my wits (what little I had
left), sat up and surveyed the landscape.  My reading glasses
were on the mantel of the fireplace.  How did they get there?
My triceps, right thigh and both titties were still twitching.
My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocain, as my
bottom lip weighed 88 lbs., give or take an ounce or two, I'm
pretty sure.

By the way, has anyone seen my testicles?  I think they ran
away. I'm offering a reward.  They're round.  Miss 'em...!
Sure would like to get'em back.

I wonder what retirement day two will bring?


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Keep Smilin'
John  :)


5
Chit Chat / Memorial Day
« on: May 28, 2007, 08:47:26 AM »


Friends,

Dawn and I would like to wish all of you a Happy Memorial Day.

A Special “Thank you” to those of you that have served, or are now serving, our great country!

Remember to say a prayer thanking our Lord for all He has done for us!

Keep Smilin'
John  :)

6
Pond Chat / I'll give you three guesses ...
« on: April 07, 2007, 10:13:00 PM »
as to what they're doing and the vid title and song selection don't count ...

I hope you enjoy watching this as much as I enjoyed making it, my first video effort.   :teehee:

http://home.comcast.net/~jmoliva/MakinWhoopee.wmv

Keep Smilin'
John  :)

7
Photo Album / For all you "fish pic starved" northern ponders ...
« on: March 03, 2007, 02:16:00 PM »
Today I was experimenting with my still camera (which also has the ability to take short video clips) and new polarizing lens ...
After all my messing around I found that I was kinda pleased with one short clip and thought that those of you who are still buried in blizzards and ice and snow and all that nasty northern "ambiance" might enjoy meeting "Sonny". Sonny is the little piggy who is front and center in this clip and I swear that at one point he winks at the camera while he swims around being a piggy. 

http://home.comcast.net/~jmoliva/P3030003.MOV

Hope you enjoy my little buddy ...

Keep Smilin'

John  :)

8
Pond Chat / Morning visitor
« on: February 07, 2007, 07:25:28 AM »
At 8:12 this morning I snapped these pictures of a visitor to the pond.

This is the first time I've seen one of these in my backyard  :o, but I'll bet it's not the last.

Hopefully, the vertical sides and having nothing less than 20" deep to stand on will keep them out of the pond itself {nono}, but time will tell.   

   

Momentarily forgetting all the evil things he/she has in mind for the fish, the Great Blue Heron certainly is a beautiful bird.

Keep Smilin'  :)
John

9
Photo Album / First Resident ... Nearly Escapes!
« on: October 27, 2006, 09:58:30 AM »
Meet Minnie the official first resident of the "big pond" here at JohnInFlorida's.



A western painted turtle, she was released into the pond this morning and started wandering around like she owned the place. Shortly thereafter she was joined by 3 dozen tadpoles, just to keep her occupied. She seems quite happy to be chasing the taddies around and she'll definately be getting plenty of exercise while trying to trap a meal. 8-)~       A small turtle in a great big puddle, but that gives the taddies a sporting chance. (8:-)

All in all, the fine tuning of the pond seems to be going well. I've been fighting with a leak but think I've discovered the location ... a joint  in one corner of the left bog which didn't get sealed correctly. I crammed the corner full of hydraulic cement and will re-test the bog later this afternoon. Hopefully that's the location of the leak. 

More to come ...

Keep Smilin'
John :) :o

10
Pond Chat / There's a light at the end of my pond tunnel!
« on: October 23, 2006, 10:52:43 AM »
As some of you know, I've been working on converting my inground swimming pool to a backyard pond for quite some time and I've been pinching myself lately cause it looks like I'm coming down to the wire.

The mechanical filter pits are done ...
 


The pumphouse is ready ...
 

The pumps are primed ...
 

And the pond is filling ... slowly, but filling ...

We're on a well here, so I've been filling the pond 90 minutes on & 90 minutes off. Hopefully I won't overtax the well pump as I'd rather not have to replace that along with everything else.

I've ordered 5 yards of 1/2" river rock to fill the bogs for bio filtration and that will be delivered on saturday. The filling should be complete well before that. Once I get the rock spread in the bogs I think I'll be in the fine tuning stage ...

The water in the "minipond" is still at 70/71 deg F but the water from the well is filling at 58 degs ... I'm going to leave the minipond flow/filtration separate for now 'cause I really don't think the goldies will be happy with the temp change if I combine them at this time. The mini and the fountain in it are designed to run off the main pumps but I've been running them separately with a Little Giant MD4 temporarily. Switching it over is just a matter of disconnecting the LG and capping the pipe that attaches it to the system and opening two valves. That will wait until the temps in the pond and minipond equalize.

As you can tell, I'm a bit excited that it's finally here and


My gosh! I think it might actually happen!  :D @O@  @O@  @O@ :D

Keep Smilin'
John :)



11
Chit Chat / Drooling Icon
« on: October 01, 2006, 06:22:48 AM »
Jerry, Not too long ago you mentioned the need for a "drooling icon" ... will any of these do?

...

maybe the third one down in the left column?

Just trying to be helpful ...

Keep Smilin'
John  :)

12
Pond Chat / A beautiful morning in Middleburg
« on: September 24, 2006, 10:59:03 AM »
Just a couple of pics from this morning.

Radiant Georgia Peach


Sunlight & Shadows


Just reminds me that God doesn't make junk ...

Keep Smilin'
John  :)


13
Chit Chat / You know you have to put your foot down when ...
« on: September 15, 2006, 04:40:55 PM »
your pets get to choose the TV program you watch.  >:(-  lol  >:(-  ::)



His name is Pharaoh and he's the "baby" of the family ... you guys all talk about the kids/grandkids and this is our equivalent ...

Keep Smilin'
John  :)

14
Pond Chat / Thank you, Jerry ... Thank you, Sean ... Such a difference!
« on: September 12, 2006, 03:19:24 AM »
The load times are consistently under 0.2 seconds !!! Add that to the great content that appears here and it's truly a blessing to come to this forum to view, read & learn.

Jerry & Sean, thank you so much for your contributions of time, effort & money in providing this venue for great pond and personal interaction. Although I've not met any of the people here, I feel I have friends here.   @O@

Keep Smilin'
John  :)

15
Pond Chat / Our diminutive visitor
« on: September 03, 2006, 09:20:57 AM »
Our most recent visitor gives new meaning to the word small.





Imagine my surprise when I first realized what I was looking at!  :o

Keep Smilin'
John  :)

BTW ... we grew him from a teenie tadpole ...  @O@

16
Pond Chat / Magical Fish!
« on: September 03, 2006, 09:17:30 AM »
I just want you all to know that I have a VERY special koi! His name is Sunny and even though he's very young, he's magical ... he disappears! 





See!  :o

In reality, that's the result of the slowness of my digital camera ... when you press the button it seems to take FOREVER for the pic to snap ... but, it was laughable when I saw what the camera actually caught ... just the ripple of his passing ... Oh well ...

Keep Smilin'
John  :)



17
Photo Album / My first tropical bloom
« on: September 02, 2006, 06:50:54 PM »
Today I had my first tropical lily bloom. I got "Islamorada" from Kat on Aug 18th and though the buds that were on it when I received it shriveled and fell off, new buds sprouted and this is the first bloom from those. All I want to say is "Cool!"  O0  and "Thanks, Kat!"   @O@





Keep Smilin'
John  :)


.

18
Pond Chat / Georgia Peach from LouAnn
« on: August 17, 2006, 09:36:33 AM »
I received a lily (Georgia Peach) from LouAnn on July 24th, it was huge and I divided it into 3 ... potted them and plunked them into the minipond ... *plunk* ! ... The two buds that were on it when I got it shriveled up and fell off  :'(  from the trauma of shipment and being chopped up into 3 pieces LOL ... but were soon replaced with two more buds @O@ ... Today, Aug 17, produced the bloom you see below  o(:-) ...

     





LouAnn, again many thanks for your generous shipment.

Keep Smilin'
John  :)

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