Messages

121

Photo Album / Re: A few of the wet pets tonight

« on: May 08, 2007, 06:40:42 PM »

Your fish pics are so much better than mine . . . . and your subjects aren't bad either!

122

Photo Album / Re: A few pics from the mountains . . .

« on: May 08, 2007, 06:40:04 PM »

Was it a version she liked I hope???

Tim

She absolutely loved it . . . she wasn't sure if it was exactly the same as she heard in her youth, but it was close enough to make her very happy.  Thank you so much for going the extra mile for me . . .

123

Terrestrial Gardening / Re: More *New* Plants...

« on: May 08, 2007, 01:07:15 PM »

I have some brand new passiflora . . . . gotta go pot shopping for them . . . . . and then to the nursery to get some dirt and NO MORE PLANTS (yeah, right).

124

Pond Chat / Re: Racooons

« on: May 08, 2007, 01:04:38 PM »

Fake gators don't even phase raccoons . . . .

125

Pond Chat / Re: I got some fish!!

« on: May 08, 2007, 10:55:06 AM »

It's very difficult to get pics of fish  . . . . specially when they are excited!

Congrats on your new fish . . . . and put that food up really high, where the kids can't reach it!

126

Pond Chat / Re: from the dark and snow covered ruins of Upstate NY... Kennef Returns!

« on: May 08, 2007, 10:10:20 AM »

Welcome back!  The new pond looks like it's off to a great start!

127

Pond Chat / Re: I guess it belongs to them

« on: May 08, 2007, 10:09:50 AM »

Um, is that what they call squatter's rights? 

You could always move the eggs to some other body of water . . . . Or you could start your bog but leave several inches of water over the dirt for a while . . . .

Great pic!

128

Pond Chat / Re: Racooons

« on: May 08, 2007, 09:21:41 AM »

Sorry Bonnie!  Raccoons are really dreadful when it comes to ponds.  They don't even have to be hungry to trash a pond.  The ones that plagued me would fill up on cat food and then go trash the ponds and lily pots.  I had one tear up a lily pot a couple of nights ago, but they didn't unplant the lily this time.  Last year they took the tubers completely out of the pot and left them in the yard to dry out and die; I lost helvola, pygmaea and a pretty little pink mini all in one raid.   They are miserable to live with and impossible to get rid of . . .

129

Chit Chat / Re: Does anyone want a Irish Republic floirin or 10p piece

« on: May 08, 2007, 08:38:36 AM »

Mine came too!  And thank you very very very much!  The girls love them, specially the tin coins!!!

130

Pond Chat / Re: How Do You Attract Dragonflies?

« on: May 08, 2007, 08:00:24 AM »

I WANT DRAGONFLIES IN MY YARD!!!
I have heard that they will come if there is a place they can lay their eggs, and that would mean a shallow, non-moving body of water.  It has to be undesturbed for two years, because it takes that long for their nymphs and larva to metamorphasize.

I was thinking of adding an extension to the bog filter that would NOT have fresh water pumped through it, and that would have mud and muck on the bottom instead of gravel, and one tall reed-like plant for the dragon flies to land on.  Then I thought, well, why not just bury a bucket in the soil and let THAT be your stagnant water?  But that sounds like it would get pretty yucky.

Anybody have any better ideas for how to attract dragonflies AND get them to breed in my yard?
 

It doesn't have to be that shallow.  They lay eggs in my patio pots and my small pond all the time and they are about 18" deep.  I think what they need is still water rather than moving water.  I have one end of my large pond that the water stays pretty still in . . . it's got plants on a shelf and it's at the opposite end from the waterfall.  They must lay there because I've found nymphs in the pond - the really big ones from the giant dragonfly.

Also, the nymphs will go to deeper water to feed.  We had some in the classroom for a while and we fed them baby guppies and mosquito larvae and live feeder worms and brine shrimp.  They do need some underwater stems for the nymphs to hang onto - that's how they hunt . . . hang on a stem or stick and wait for the food to swim by then grab it.


As for dirt bottoms, it doesn't matter . . . they live in my ponds which are lined (one with rubber, one with permalon) and they live in the pots which do have dirt in the bottom.   I do see them more in the sun than in the shade and they do hang around the sunnier pond and the pots in the sun more than the big pond in the shade.  But I think it's the reflection of the light on the water that attracts them, not the actual sun.  I think that's why I sometimes see them laying eggs on cars . . . .

131

Chit Chat / Re: The tree man cometh . . . .

« on: May 08, 2007, 07:50:33 AM »

I took the olive in over the winter and it's just fine.  It's gotten a lot bigger and probably needs a larger pot, but I can't let it get too big if it's going to live in a pot . . . . . wonder if it would take our winters . . . .

132

Pond Chat / Re: Pics of my Ochiba Shigure

« on: May 08, 2007, 07:45:03 AM »

Thanks!  My birthday was way back in February and he delivered the fish when he brought Mom down in March.  I just haven't been able to see it because the ponds were such a mess.

133

Chit Chat / Re: Jo-Ann's - 50% Off Entire Stock of Garden Stuff

« on: May 07, 2007, 05:20:47 PM »

I like the leaves and the sunflower will look better colored in a little more natural way . . . . post a pic when you get it done?

134

Chit Chat / Re: The tree man cometh . . . .

« on: May 07, 2007, 05:18:20 PM »

I'm so HAPPY for you Teresa! At least something is being done!

I agree Bradford Pears SUCK royally and are the most overused, short lived bloomer and brittle wooded tree I have ever come across. Besides having HORRIBLE growth habits and tendencies to seed all over the place almost as bad a privet hedge. And messy stinky. They can not handle any winds stronger than your average breezy day. All we do at work is replace, replace, replace BFs. I can honestly use the word HATE when I think of BFs. When customers ask for them, I tell them outright we do not guarantee BFs. It's the only tree we do not give our 1 year guarantee on.

There are so many more beautiful, practical trees to plant.

Yeah, well unfortunately the stupid BP's in my yard have been here longer than me and just won't die or get hit by lightning!!!  And yes, I forgot to mention all the danged suckers they send up all over the place.   And in my yard, they couldn't possibly be more overused!!!  Imagine that I have that many and only just over 1/2 an acre of city land . . ..

135

Pond Chat / Re: Ponds are done!

« on: May 07, 2007, 05:14:48 PM »

The hammock is up by the lily pond . . . . directly across from the swing that is in the picture. 

I've had a great day today, looking at the fish and thinking about the plants.  Right now I have a lot of acorus . . . and a little bit of lizard tail and 2 swamp mallows . . . . And I have 1 koi and two very small (3" and 1.5") shubunkins . . . .This baby needs some plants and some fish . . . . and the other pond does too.

I also need some big pots, so tomorrow might be a day for shopping!

136

Pond Chat / Re: Pics of my Ochiba Shigure

« on: May 07, 2007, 05:12:30 PM »

Well, since she's not even 5" long yet, the lover is wasting his time.  But they were all very excited about the newly cleaned pond and the wonderfully flowing waterfalls.  They spend hours just playing around in the moving water under the falls. 

I've spent hours out looking at them and for them . . . the male shubunkin is still romancing the poor little baby koi . . . . wish I could get a better shot of her because she looks a LOT like Gene's Babe - who I have always wanted since I first saw her . . . .

137

Pond Chat / Re: Yes, turtles do get more bold with age

« on: May 07, 2007, 05:10:17 PM »

S'not just crows . . . a blue jay will take a baby turtle, fly very high and drop it then swoop down and eat.  And frogs and snakes can take babies, but not adults.  The smaller they are, the more skittish they HAVE to be.

I'm debating putting my little guys in the pond again . . .

138

Chit Chat / Re: The tree man cometh . . . .

« on: May 07, 2007, 02:01:01 PM »

Bradford pears are nasty because they have beautiful blooms that smell absolutely disgusting and then they drop copious amounts of petals everywhere.  The petals then get very slick and slippery and stick together and are hard to clean up.  Then they get tiny little 1/4" to 1/2" pears that they drop everywhere and they are hard as little rocks and hurt your feet.  Then in the fall, they are the very last trees to drop their leaves . . . months after everything else is long done and they drop them all in a day or so.  They usually don't drop them till it's about ready to freeze, so they drop, get wet and then freeze.  They make a driveway (ours is lined with the stupid trees all the way up and around . . . you can see at least 5 in that pic) very slippery, so even the car slides down the hill.  And the leaves are hard to clean up too . . . and they grow funny so they have to be pruned or they snap in wind or ice storms.

There are 16 of them lining my driveway and they have never been properly pruned.  The guy who lived here before us didn't do it and so they were too big and had already grown dangerous forks before we moved in the house.  We wanted to top them but first were advised against it because they hadn't been pruned to have wide forks when young.  The arborist came out and said that they could be topped and thinned, but the price was prohibitive.  I dunno what has possessed DH to do it now, but I'm so happy he's doing it. 

So I hate them because they are messy and uncooperative and not very pretty.

And I really hope they are getting a very severe thinning because they need it as much as I want it . . .

139

Chit Chat / Re: The tree man cometh . . . .

« on: May 07, 2007, 11:57:55 AM »

'fraid that will NEVER happen again Sean!  He left me alone with the tree man last time and at least 5 extra trees came down . . . . he won't even let me talk to tree men anymore . . . .

140

Chit Chat / Re: Jo-Ann's - 50% Off Entire Stock of Garden Stuff

« on: May 07, 2007, 10:19:57 AM »

I've been trying to get to a Joann's for a week now . . . need some yarn that they carry and nobody in-town does.  They don't build Joann's or Walmarts or Hobby Lobbies inside the perimeter here . . . .

141

Chit Chat / The tree man cometh . . . .

« on: May 07, 2007, 10:14:20 AM »

And the river birch will cometh down, down, down . . . . and all the nasty bradford pears will be trimmed and topped . . . . I may have a sunny future after all . . . . .

142

Chit Chat / Re: I Got My Crocs!

« on: May 07, 2007, 10:13:12 AM »

Do they ever really wear out?  I know they get too cruddy to be seen in, but they seem to last forever other than that!

143

Pond Chat / Pics of my Ochiba Shigure

« on: May 07, 2007, 10:11:51 AM »

These are really bad pics, but I was so excited that I could actually see the fish that I had to take them . . . . she was a birthday present from my big bro and I think she's beautiful (calling her a she because the male shub is trying very hard to mate with her . . . . )

144

Pond Chat / Ponds are done!

« on: May 07, 2007, 10:10:13 AM »

Big pond is replumbed, cleaned and running and the little pond is cleaned.  The big pond has 2 goldfish and one koi and the little pond needs some fish . . . .

145

Chit Chat / Re: Whoo Hooo it's Derby Day

« on: May 07, 2007, 08:05:29 AM »

I love Makers Mark and that's what I mostly drink . . . when I drink bourbon. 

146

Chit Chat / Re: We're going on vacation.

« on: May 07, 2007, 08:04:42 AM »

I love Asheville . . . such a neat place.  I lived there for a while as a child.

There is a great little shop for handcrafted stuff, especially if you like hippie type stuff:

http://www.indocrafts.com/index.asp?redirect=http://www.indocrafts.com/indocrafts.com

And my most favorite craft/fiber supply store is there.  They have supplies for basket weaving, spinning, knitting, dying, felting, candle making and just about anything else you'd want to do.  It's a very cool place:

http://www.earthguild.com/

147

Pond Chat / Re: I'm Actually Doing It!

« on: May 07, 2007, 06:41:27 AM »

I like it!  It's gonna look great!

148

Chit Chat / Re: Whoo Hooo it's Derby Day

« on: May 06, 2007, 05:06:18 PM »

I was at the 105th running. My first mint juleps. Disgusting things, but the fifth starts to taste OK. It was one of the more memorable times in my life.

Cheers,

Mike

It really depends on what bourbon you use and how much sugar you use as to how dreadful they taste.  I've been drinking bourbon for a long time, and as with so many other things, it's an acquired taste . . . . I prefer my eggnog with bourbon, and I love eggnog.  The better bourbons (more expensive) can be really good . . . . . a mint julep made with good bourbon is a good thing (and I wouldn't classify Early Times as a good bourbon.)

149

Chit Chat / Re: How far from your house to your pond?

« on: May 06, 2007, 08:20:46 AM »

That absolutely cannot be real . . . .

150

Chit Chat / Re: Well He's Finally Here!

« on: May 06, 2007, 08:20:10 AM »

Too cute!  And nice coloring . . .