Messages

121

Chit Chat / Re: Terrible News about one of our members

« on: June 13, 2008, 05:56:42 PM »

So sorry that I came across this post so late. My best to his family and friends.

louis

122

Pond Chat / New red Knockout photo

« on: June 13, 2008, 05:46:48 PM »

gotta love this plant. this is from the back, the sun is directly behind the bloom.

louis

123

Pond Chat / Re: Yellow Knockout Rose - photo

« on: June 10, 2008, 07:51:13 AM »

Hey Louis,
Great to see you and your images back. That would be one to have for sure

Seems like it wasn't all that long ago when you were having such a cold summer and not lots of blooms. Nice to see that things have changed. (pretty radically though )
Steve

hi steve, its a bear today, its 1030 and the temp is already 92. humility is almost 100%

lou

124

Chit Chat / Death of Mr. Common Sense.

« on: June 10, 2008, 07:25:26 AM »

Unfortunately this is too true

Louis


London Times

Obituary of the late Mr. Common Sense

'Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Elastoplasts to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; along with his daughter and son, Responsibility and Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.

125

Pond Chat / Re: Yellow Knockout Rose - photo

« on: June 10, 2008, 07:21:17 AM »

hi bonnie,

thanks. a double is on the way.

louis

126

Pond Chat / Yellow Knockout Rose - photo

« on: June 10, 2008, 06:41:56 AM »

Happy Spring, my friends, been a long time posting any image.
We are in the middle of a heat wave in the Northeast and the garden is doing great.  Back two years ago a friend who runs a nursery out west asked if I would mind being a "beta" tester for a new Knockout rose that will hit the market in a couple of years. It does not have a name yet, but for  now, its called the Yellow Knockout. I know most of you have seen or have the red or pink Knockout rose and what a wonderful rose they are. Mine bloom all summer long. Each bush is non stop color waving in the breeze.

The red or pink bush will get to 4 feet by 4 feet in good conditions. The yellow one is a bit more compact, growing about 3 feet wide by 3 feet high. I counted well over 100 buds and blooms on the yellow bush this morning. I am lucky to have two of the yellow ones and two reds and two pinks. I also have a nice red called "Home Run"

let me know your thoughts on this plant. I had to darken the photo to show the detail in the flower. the color is accurate.

Note: as you can see in the photo, every once in a while, a single stalk will grow up to 4 feet or higher, maybe there is a climber in its past. I clip them down to keep the bush compact.

Louis

Individual flower:



Bush that is 3 years old:

127

Pond Chat / Re: Found a bird in the pond

« on: May 26, 2008, 06:33:09 PM »

Kudos to you for saving this wonderful creature. This put a big smile on my face.

louis

128

Pond Chat / Re: spell checker

« on: May 25, 2008, 06:31:59 AM »

I use IE Spell and love it. it will only work in text boxes such as the box i am in now. you have to right click anywhere in the area that you are typing and in the menue will be "CHECK SPELLING" works fine.

lou

129

Pond Chat / Re: Very pleased with my Sequence pump, but it can't run forever...

« on: May 04, 2008, 07:37:46 AM »

Good answer Louis.  I will pose the question to gene at Koi village. He was my supplier.

Gene is the best of the best

louis

130

Pond Chat / Re: Never a Dull moment around here!-LINK TO VIDEO ADDED

« on: May 04, 2008, 07:03:16 AM »

YUMM they taste like chicken

louis

131

Pond Chat / Re: Very pleased with my Sequence pump, but it can't run forever...

« on: May 04, 2008, 06:57:23 AM »

The question is, how do we prepare for the day it quits?  Waiting a week for a replacement does not sound like a good idea.  Is having a second one ready for the day it dies the smart thing to do?
Or is there a way to use an "el cheapo" temporarily?

hello jerry, i have several old cheapies that i can use in the event of a disaster. what is the output of the sequence?

find one similar to the output, maybe even a little lower will do

louis

132

Pond Chat / Re: Craig's unnamed green again...

« on: May 04, 2008, 06:55:30 AM »

Hi Sean, very nice.

louis

133

Pond Chat / BREAKTHROUGH - First Blue Hardy Waterlily

« on: May 04, 2008, 06:50:30 AM »

The seemingly impossible has been achieved by Pairat Songpanich of Thailand. Pink Ribbon is one of his developments also.  Here is a link to WGI, please join, its a wonderful site.  This is so exciting.

http://www.watergardenersinternational.org/journal/3-2/contents_nm.html

louis

134

Pond Chat / Re: Some tropical lilies in bloom...

« on: April 29, 2008, 06:53:36 AM »

very nice sean, love the pads.

louis

135

Pond Chat / Re: Lilies pics

« on: April 29, 2008, 06:51:12 AM »

very nice, lots of envy here.

louis

136

Pond Chat / Re: Update on missing fish - culprit found

« on: April 20, 2008, 06:09:53 AM »

Nice to hear the end of the story, but sorry the mink got his----so to speak, he was just surviving.
but then again, sorry to hear that he was surviving on your fish.
Somehing to ponder is that he IS nature, and we alter it to suit our wants. Just something to think about.

Hope you have a great summer Louis.

Steve

Well said! 

That's a sad story all around Louis, at least you know what happened.  Enjoy your fish shopping.

thanks everyone,
with the price of fish, i will propbably end up in the poor house. but i need to get some life into the pond again.

lou

137

Pond Chat / Re: Update on missing fish - culprit found

« on: April 19, 2008, 07:02:16 PM »

Louis, I had a mink get 2 of my oldest gold fish last summer. I just happened to catch him in the act. He will not be getting any more as he went to great mink land up in the sky. Glad you found your culprit. Thanks for letting us know. 
 

good for you, its a constant battle

lou

138

Pond Chat / Re: Update on missing fish - culprit found

« on: April 19, 2008, 06:52:47 PM »

Well Louis, it's good to know what happened to your poor fish. Also good to hear that mink won't be a problem any more. Hope the new fish enjoy a long and happy life in your ponds.

thanks mary

lou

139

Pond Chat / Update on missing fish - culprit found

« on: April 19, 2008, 06:35:53 PM »

This has a strange ending. It was a mink that got my fish. I was talking to a neighbor who lives a few doors down on the lake and I mentioned that my fish disappeared this past winter. OMG sez he, I found a mink under the hood of my boat engine and he had been storing fish and there were a few big gold fish. It seems that the mink somehow got stuck on the engine and froze to death. Poetic justice. It seems that the mink lived in  the wall in front of his house.

I spoke to a biologist and he told me that mink will take all the fish in a pond and store them for the winter, so i assume he/she got into the pond before it froze. I still feel very bad. But, I am looking for a few more to liven up the ponds.

lou

140

Pond Chat / Re: Ponds have thawed out and all my fish have disappeared

« on: April 11, 2008, 10:56:40 AM »

I hope it works!

Can you do me a favor?
Can you post a few pix of your pond and the surrounding landscape?
I don't think many people realize how beautiful an environment you have created.
I was at your website and there are no pix of your pond.     

hi  joyce,
i will do, i had them on one of my web sites but when i checked, i found out the link does not work.

gotta pay more attention to details

lou

141

Pond Chat / Re: Ponds have thawed out and all my fish have disappeared

« on: April 09, 2008, 04:08:11 PM »

Lou,
Don't give up! 

I was wondering if you could, every winter,
temporarily put landscape mesh over the pond. (metal)
I remember yours is raised, and doesn't it have a level, even edge where this would work?
You could make a wood frame for the wire mesh to be easily lowered over the pond, custom fit.
(I know you are handy when it comes to these projects!)
Just thinking  ....   there HAS to be a solution to this problem! 

thanks joyce, this is a good suggestion

lou

142

Pond Chat / Re: Ponds have thawed out and all my fish have disappeared

« on: April 09, 2008, 11:23:13 AM »

I worked in the yard yesterday and drained down and cleaned the two large ponds where the fish were. last fall there were lots of babies, about 2-3 inches in length, probably about 100 of them. not one of them are there. all of them went missing also. its hard to believe that some animal or animals could have been that efficient to have cleaned out them all.

I may give up on fish.

Louis

143

Pond Chat / Re: Ponds have thawed out and all my fish have disappeared

« on: April 08, 2008, 05:52:49 AM »

I am so sorry to hear about your fish. Your spot on the preserve sounds beautiful.
My pond just thawed on saturday and I found all my koi dead.

hi kathy, i am so sorry, do you have any idea what happened to them.

louis

144

Pond Chat / Re: Ponds have thawed out and all my fish have disappeared

« on: April 07, 2008, 09:19:24 AM »

Lou, I feel your pain. So sorry.

As it has warmed up here I just realized that almost all of my fish are gone too. They usually hide under the floating island planter during winter though we don't have ice cover. It is normal to not see them during winter much. A kingfisher must have cleaned me out as when I moved the planter I could only find five fish. My ten year old comets and all of my shubunkins are gone. My pond does have an electric fence so no raccoons possible, would have noticed the damage to plants anyway. No mink or otters here in the big city. No trace of them. I once saw a kingfisher swoop down and make off with a six inch shubunkin but have not seen one in years. I would have netted the pond....

BTW beavers are herbivores and hibernate during winter, same as muskrats as Joyce pointed out.

Hi Leeann,

nature is cruel. so sorry for your loss. i feel your pain.

lou

145

Pond Chat / Re: Ponds have thawed out and all my fish have disappeared

« on: April 07, 2008, 08:05:34 AM »

If it were me I think I'd be putting some kind of bait with poison in there.  But then, I'm vindictive and don't mind using my spot on the food chain for revenge.   

i agree with you.

lou

146

Pond Chat / Re: Ponds have thawed out and all my fish have disappeared

« on: April 06, 2008, 05:59:33 PM »

As you know, i live on the shore of a lake and am surrounded by 4000 acres of nature preserve. I spoke to the resident biologist and he feels the same as me, most likely an otter or mink.

I have seen a mink living in my seawall, however have not seen him/her in a couple of years.
And the entry point could have been the clear area around the ice defroster. He, the biologist, thinks a net would not be effective, since if they know there is food in there, they would chew through the net.

I do have bad luck with fish, I lost all my koi a few years ago due to a brutal winter and the goldies and shubunkins all survived with no problem.

I am going to put plastic fish in there.

louis

147

Pond Chat / Re: Ponds have thawed out and all my fish have disappeared

« on: April 05, 2008, 04:18:56 PM »

hi all,

i drained the pond down tonight and there is absolutely no sign of them, not even a small piece of fish.

i would assume a mink or otter. although i never saw any signs.

so i start fresh. i am heartbroken.

i wonder if mink or otter take them outside to eat or do they eat in the pond.

thanks for all your thoughts.

louis

148

Pond Chat / Ponds have thawed out and all my fish have disappeared

« on: April 05, 2008, 06:49:32 AM »

Don't know what happened. I had over 50 fish of all types in two ponds and they have just disappeared with no trace.

The ponds froze in mid December and just thawed out two days ago. all that time there was a solid coat of ice with no disturbances. I did have my electric heaters on the ice, but did not notice anything unusual with them. This is heartbreaking, some of the fish I have had for over 10 years. I had a pair of goldies that were 20 years old and 2 feet long.

Some animal got in and did not even leave a scale or part of fish to show that he was there.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Now all these years I had to beg some pond friends here to take some fish, now I have to go back to them to ask for some back.

If the weather warms up next week, I will drain them down to see if there is any trace of them on the bottom.

louis

149

Pond Chat / Re: Joyce Grigonis

« on: April 05, 2008, 06:41:59 AM »

Joyce, are you still with the nursery. if you are moving, how will this effect your job there.

lou

150

Pond Chat / Re: Hi Everyone, Happy Spring

« on: March 30, 2008, 05:12:33 PM »

Hi Lou,

Good to "see" you again. As always, awesome photos. Did you enjoy Weird Al? Hope to see some photos of your ponds soon...

hi jess, weird al was awesome, a real nice "normal" guy.  i will post pond photos soon. i was working in the yard this evening, i am all excited that its finally getting nice. i did see some of my fish today. the ponds are still frozen but there are a few holes

lou