I don't know exactly what happened. Perhaps the stars aligned properly. Maybe the plants reached maximum algae eating size. It's possible that tons of rain altered the water and the acidic ratios were enough to destroy algae but not fish. It may even be the weeks of bucketing out yucky water that I've tirelessly (but whinely) performed. But, whatever it was or is... it is glorious. WE CAN SEE OUR FISH!
Yes, the fish are visible. All perhaps 11 of them - though it is hard to count fish because they don't "sit" still. I almost hate to say this, but I'm happy to have fish at this moment. It's only taken YEARS to reach that point.
Future posts will tell the WHOLE story of the fish I care for, but now I must show the pet sitter the bucket...
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Buckets and Buckets and Buckets, Oh My...
My neighbors are probably still laughing at me. I have been out front, bucketing green water from the pond again. I planned to do 30 buckets this morning, figuring that's about 30% of the volume of water in the pond. Once again we're talking buckets of green water. It's a pretty green until you think about what's in it. Fish poop, sun, water temperature change, algae bloom... Lots of stuff that through the transitive property equals one LARGE "gross". So I'm not going to think about what's in it anymore.
Except I will tell you that I facebooked (OK, so I made it a verb) the possibility that this green stuff might, perhaps, be an anti-aging treatment. My friends asked for gallons, some volunteered help with bottles and marketing. Sadly though, my hands remain covered in age spots. And I am SO NOT STICKING my face in the green water. At least not until my hands look better. And given that these same fish used to live indoors and I've been taking care of their water for the better part of a decade, it's not looking good for the whole anti-aging thing but it was fun to think about.
So 30 buckets OUT, which I poured hither and yon around the yard, taking special care to not lose any fish in the process. Then it's 30 gallons of fresh water IN to top off the pond, along with a squirt of what I call "happy fish slime". "Happy fish slime" (sold comercially under less attractive names) mitigates the chlorine in the fresh water and de-stresses the fish. It's a wonder they don't sell this in gallon jugs for hot tub use. Or maybe they do - I don't have a hot tub.
My neighbors, who find our whole fish pond "period" amusing, saw me bucketing and asked what I was up to. I explained that in really good aquariums with healthy fish you have a 3 part filter system; mechanical, biological and chemical. I told them I was working on a Nobel prize for a new 4th component to filtering systems. I call it the manual filter. I, with my own hands, remove dirty water and then, with those same hands turn on the hose to replace the dirty water with clean water. At this point the neighbors started backing away, said "hasta luego" and vanished. Smart folks, the neighbors.
OK, so I know I didn't invent this component, because I simply cannot be the first person on earth to be stupid enough to go through this process several times a week for what appears to be an endless period of time, but IF I write it all down and send it in to the Nobel prize committee first then I'll get credit. And quite frankly, if I win a $1,000,000 then I'll be able to pay someone else to figure out how best to avoid green water in the first place. Although I have that part figured out already. Give the fish away, drain the pond and fill it with dirt. Which leads immediately to the age old "stay at home mom" question: "but what will you do with all your spare time?" To which I'll give the standard "stay at home mom" answer: "HA!"
Janice Arrowood
Buckets and Buckets and Buckets, Oh My © 2009
Except I will tell you that I facebooked (OK, so I made it a verb) the possibility that this green stuff might, perhaps, be an anti-aging treatment. My friends asked for gallons, some volunteered help with bottles and marketing. Sadly though, my hands remain covered in age spots. And I am SO NOT STICKING my face in the green water. At least not until my hands look better. And given that these same fish used to live indoors and I've been taking care of their water for the better part of a decade, it's not looking good for the whole anti-aging thing but it was fun to think about.
So 30 buckets OUT, which I poured hither and yon around the yard, taking special care to not lose any fish in the process. Then it's 30 gallons of fresh water IN to top off the pond, along with a squirt of what I call "happy fish slime". "Happy fish slime" (sold comercially under less attractive names) mitigates the chlorine in the fresh water and de-stresses the fish. It's a wonder they don't sell this in gallon jugs for hot tub use. Or maybe they do - I don't have a hot tub.
My neighbors, who find our whole fish pond "period" amusing, saw me bucketing and asked what I was up to. I explained that in really good aquariums with healthy fish you have a 3 part filter system; mechanical, biological and chemical. I told them I was working on a Nobel prize for a new 4th component to filtering systems. I call it the manual filter. I, with my own hands, remove dirty water and then, with those same hands turn on the hose to replace the dirty water with clean water. At this point the neighbors started backing away, said "hasta luego" and vanished. Smart folks, the neighbors.
OK, so I know I didn't invent this component, because I simply cannot be the first person on earth to be stupid enough to go through this process several times a week for what appears to be an endless period of time, but IF I write it all down and send it in to the Nobel prize committee first then I'll get credit. And quite frankly, if I win a $1,000,000 then I'll be able to pay someone else to figure out how best to avoid green water in the first place. Although I have that part figured out already. Give the fish away, drain the pond and fill it with dirt. Which leads immediately to the age old "stay at home mom" question: "but what will you do with all your spare time?" To which I'll give the standard "stay at home mom" answer: "HA!"
Janice Arrowood
Buckets and Buckets and Buckets, Oh My © 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Fly Fishing in Idaho
My mind has been on fishing today, probably because I've been working in the pond again... It's been about 15 years since we wandered our way across the St Joe River in the far reaches of Idaho (Avery) to fly fish in the Bitteroot Mountains. I'm sure it's much as it was then; not much traffic, really rustic hotel rooms, lots of logging roads to get lost on.
We were still "new" to the whole pregnancy thing when we made this trip. It was late summer/early fall, there were still berries on bushes, and the St Joe was running well and loaded with trout. We found a good spot to fish and I tied on my favorite ant fly, I should say my "lucky" fly. I perched on a nice big boulder and casted for awhile, nothing was biting. After an hour of different spots for me and different flies for my husband, we decided to take a hike. We found a nice trail that led up to a ridge overlooking the river. Before we knew what happened we'd covered a good bit of territory and somehow lost the trail. We headed towards the river.
We walked downhill through a lot of brush and a lot more berry bushes; me ever wary of bears. The Bitteroots still have their share of Grizzlies... I did what I was always told to do: make noise as you hike. It wasn't hard; I was pregnant, tired, lost, worried and hungry. And I had to pee. Badly. I was wearing clothes topped with waders and boots. The effort to get out of the clothes took way longer than my husband thought it should, but I couldn't hurry for fear of "losing it" too early in the process. And the spot had to be just right too and, of course, when your belly is big your balance isn't quite the same, but you get the picture.
Then we had to worry about losing light, it was late in the day. We found a trail, but couldn't be certain it would lead back to our spot on the river. SO we opted to hike IN the river. For those of you who haven't hiked in wading boots and waders... there is a lot of drag involved, and we were dragging ourselves UPstream too. And the bottom was slippery. And I was still hungry. After what seemed like a long time we came to a fork in the river; not good. But we found a fisherman and he pointed us in the right direction. And since we still hadn't encountered any grizzly bears my patience returned. We found the car.
We had dinner in Avery and then decided to head east for "shelter". Somehow we ended up on a logging road that grew more trail looking as we drove, eventually leading us in Montana and dropping us off in St. Regis. There we found a hotel room, which was more "shed" than Sheraton, but it had a bed and a bathroom.
Janice Arrowood
Fly Fishing in Idaho © 2009
We were still "new" to the whole pregnancy thing when we made this trip. It was late summer/early fall, there were still berries on bushes, and the St Joe was running well and loaded with trout. We found a good spot to fish and I tied on my favorite ant fly, I should say my "lucky" fly. I perched on a nice big boulder and casted for awhile, nothing was biting. After an hour of different spots for me and different flies for my husband, we decided to take a hike. We found a nice trail that led up to a ridge overlooking the river. Before we knew what happened we'd covered a good bit of territory and somehow lost the trail. We headed towards the river.
We walked downhill through a lot of brush and a lot more berry bushes; me ever wary of bears. The Bitteroots still have their share of Grizzlies... I did what I was always told to do: make noise as you hike. It wasn't hard; I was pregnant, tired, lost, worried and hungry. And I had to pee. Badly. I was wearing clothes topped with waders and boots. The effort to get out of the clothes took way longer than my husband thought it should, but I couldn't hurry for fear of "losing it" too early in the process. And the spot had to be just right too and, of course, when your belly is big your balance isn't quite the same, but you get the picture.
Then we had to worry about losing light, it was late in the day. We found a trail, but couldn't be certain it would lead back to our spot on the river. SO we opted to hike IN the river. For those of you who haven't hiked in wading boots and waders... there is a lot of drag involved, and we were dragging ourselves UPstream too. And the bottom was slippery. And I was still hungry. After what seemed like a long time we came to a fork in the river; not good. But we found a fisherman and he pointed us in the right direction. And since we still hadn't encountered any grizzly bears my patience returned. We found the car.
We had dinner in Avery and then decided to head east for "shelter". Somehow we ended up on a logging road that grew more trail looking as we drove, eventually leading us in Montana and dropping us off in St. Regis. There we found a hotel room, which was more "shed" than Sheraton, but it had a bed and a bathroom.
Janice Arrowood
Fly Fishing in Idaho © 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Hoping for Diabetes
My 15 year old has been having dizzy episodes. It all started during her soccer game on Saturday afternoon. Another one came later that evening when she was hanging out with friends. None on Sunday. At soccer practice on Monday, another. Two on Tuesday and now, two on Wednesday. So far.
We've been to the Dr and the bloodwork came back normal. Today we're waiting on the results of the MRI from this morning.
The waiting is hard. It's also getting harder to come up with solutions that sound good.
First we thought, dehydration. Then blood sugar issues. A sinus infection. A virus of some sort. Now we've moved on to things that are either scary or worse, although diabetes is somehow a comforting thought. Not that diabetes is a happy diagnosis, but it's way better than a brain tumor or a leaky blood vessel.
Doc called, the MRI was normal. So we move on... She is now wearing a "holter monitor" that will chart her heart rhythm over the next 24 hours. I guess we're making progress. At least my "dizzy" blonde has a normal brain scan.
Janice Arrowood
Hoping for Diabetes © 2009
We've been to the Dr and the bloodwork came back normal. Today we're waiting on the results of the MRI from this morning.
The waiting is hard. It's also getting harder to come up with solutions that sound good.
First we thought, dehydration. Then blood sugar issues. A sinus infection. A virus of some sort. Now we've moved on to things that are either scary or worse, although diabetes is somehow a comforting thought. Not that diabetes is a happy diagnosis, but it's way better than a brain tumor or a leaky blood vessel.
Doc called, the MRI was normal. So we move on... She is now wearing a "holter monitor" that will chart her heart rhythm over the next 24 hours. I guess we're making progress. At least my "dizzy" blonde has a normal brain scan.
Janice Arrowood
Hoping for Diabetes © 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Cleaning the pond
I should really write a book about our goldfish. I'll spare you the details for now, but we put them in an outdoor pond last summer. They survived the winter, thanks to Pete's "gift" of a pond de-icer, and now it's time to do the spring cleanout.
I will point out at this point that I did not ever want goldfish, but I am their primary caregiver. So cleaning out the pond appears to be another of my jobs. Job 1 is getting the pump/filter running. The job description of the "stay at home" Mom is ever changing.
Last week I removed the de-icer and plugged in the pump/filter. Lovely green water spurted out until it didn't anymore. Then I pulled the pump/filter out of the pond and cleaned it out. So we have flow now. Job 2 is to get rid of green water.
Yesterday I "bucketed" out about 20 gallons of green water and then topped off with clean water. The plan is to do this daily until I can see the fish. I suppose I could catch all the fish and empty the whole pond but I tried that yesterday and only caught two very small guys, the other 8 eluding me in the murk. The good news is that the two I caught seem to be healthy, with no sign of "ick" (fin and tail rot is the official name).
Meanwhile I've got to work on how to keep the water clean and that seems to mean installing a UV filter. SO I've got to determine my pump throughput to see if it a) is sufficient for the pond as it is and b)if I need a bigger one if I hook a UV filter into the flow... Thank goodness for the internet is all I can say. It may take me til May to sort it all out even with the internet.
The mailman stopped by to see what I was doing yesterday. He was mildly amused, watching me bucket out water and then pour it through a net to make sure I wasn't going to throw out a fish with the dirty water. And it is really nasty water, though the bushes in the yard seem to enjoy it. Talk about real fish emulsion fertilizer... Score one for fertilizing on the cheap!
Cleaning the Pond © 2009
Janice Arrowood
I will point out at this point that I did not ever want goldfish, but I am their primary caregiver. So cleaning out the pond appears to be another of my jobs. Job 1 is getting the pump/filter running. The job description of the "stay at home" Mom is ever changing.
Last week I removed the de-icer and plugged in the pump/filter. Lovely green water spurted out until it didn't anymore. Then I pulled the pump/filter out of the pond and cleaned it out. So we have flow now. Job 2 is to get rid of green water.
Yesterday I "bucketed" out about 20 gallons of green water and then topped off with clean water. The plan is to do this daily until I can see the fish. I suppose I could catch all the fish and empty the whole pond but I tried that yesterday and only caught two very small guys, the other 8 eluding me in the murk. The good news is that the two I caught seem to be healthy, with no sign of "ick" (fin and tail rot is the official name).
Meanwhile I've got to work on how to keep the water clean and that seems to mean installing a UV filter. SO I've got to determine my pump throughput to see if it a) is sufficient for the pond as it is and b)if I need a bigger one if I hook a UV filter into the flow... Thank goodness for the internet is all I can say. It may take me til May to sort it all out even with the internet.
The mailman stopped by to see what I was doing yesterday. He was mildly amused, watching me bucket out water and then pour it through a net to make sure I wasn't going to throw out a fish with the dirty water. And it is really nasty water, though the bushes in the yard seem to enjoy it. Talk about real fish emulsion fertilizer... Score one for fertilizing on the cheap!
Cleaning the Pond © 2009
Janice Arrowood
Monday, April 13, 2009
Waiting for Sudafed
It's pollen season in my town and the tree pollen has been off the charts lately, which is bad news for me. I'm am stuffed up better than a turkey on Thanksgiving. I just sent my husband out to buy Sudafed. I had to give him the educational explanation for why he has to buy it directly from the Pharmacist. Probably only mothers know that you have to show id and sign a log to buy pseudophedrine.
My husband was impressed that I knew it was a primary ingredient in methamphetamine and that it's a controlled substance. I had to explain that they sell stuff that sounds like Sudafed over the counter on the shelves but it's useless stuff for the most part - at least for me. Only the real thing works on my pre-sinus infection congestion.
It is my most frustrating challenge as an allergy sufferer, to find over the counter drugs that actually work. The "old" children's chewable Benedryl was great stuff. The kids would get one tablet and I could dose myself based on how bad my symptoms were; but it's gone now. The "old" Alka Seltzer Cold medicine was amazing. The new formula is pretty much worthless. And there is something pharmacists try to sell you as "like" psuedophedrine, but it says right on the box that it's not psuedophedrine and believe me - it doesn't work like psuedophedrine either.
The DEA wouldn't need to exist if they would just give mothers the addresses of all the possible "meth" makers out there. Believe me, at this minute I could make them all squirm for making my life so complicated.
Waiting for Sudafed © 2009
Janice Arrowood
My husband was impressed that I knew it was a primary ingredient in methamphetamine and that it's a controlled substance. I had to explain that they sell stuff that sounds like Sudafed over the counter on the shelves but it's useless stuff for the most part - at least for me. Only the real thing works on my pre-sinus infection congestion.
It is my most frustrating challenge as an allergy sufferer, to find over the counter drugs that actually work. The "old" children's chewable Benedryl was great stuff. The kids would get one tablet and I could dose myself based on how bad my symptoms were; but it's gone now. The "old" Alka Seltzer Cold medicine was amazing. The new formula is pretty much worthless. And there is something pharmacists try to sell you as "like" psuedophedrine, but it says right on the box that it's not psuedophedrine and believe me - it doesn't work like psuedophedrine either.
The DEA wouldn't need to exist if they would just give mothers the addresses of all the possible "meth" makers out there. Believe me, at this minute I could make them all squirm for making my life so complicated.
Waiting for Sudafed © 2009
Janice Arrowood
Monday, April 6, 2009
Tired of Politics
I'm not quite sure where to start. It began for me a long time ago, this frustration when confronted with tirade after tirade from television "pundits". It continued when these same people's words began arriving in my email inbox. I bet you've received one. Or a thousand. The email is meant well, from a friend or neighbor with an entry line that reads something like, "Thought this was interesting." The following text usually includes a letter that's passed through about a hundred other email addresses and seems like it's written by a good American, but then somewhere you'll see the words of evil right or left wing talking heads. Sometimes the words are clearly shown to be from a particular person.
Election time was a fruitful time for these nasty missives, and for awhile I tried to fact check them and notify those who sent them to me of what was valid and what wasn't. But it wore me out and I decided to ignore them, figuring they'd go away after the election.
Anyway, I reached the critical mass with political words last week. It may have had something to do with the 100 soccer emails I had to read and write due to the abundance of rained out practices and games, and the clutter of junk in my inbox. My poor neighbor caught the worst of it, when I wrote her back saying I was happy to get her jokes and educational tidbits but could she please stop sending me political opinion pieces. What I wanted to say was "if I want to read Dick Morris' opinion I'll go look for it", but I tried to be kind. I do love my neighbor.
So several very quiet days went by. I feared I'd hurt her feelings. I debated whether I'd gone to far. Yesterday we spoke from one back deck to the other, and I got an earful of opinion, which is fine. Because it wasn't Dick Morris speaking to me.
And it's not just Dick Morris, it's also James Carville and a whole host of others. It just seems to me that so many of these people only get a paycheck if they are extreme; so extreme they are. I admit, I'd rather our government not have to do many of the things it is doing right now, but I don't think there is a lot of wiggle room for nipping this economic crisis in the bud. President Obama has barely been in office two months. Anyone saying ugly things about his policies already is clearly more focused on themselves than our country.
Tired of Politics © 2009
Janice Arrowood
Election time was a fruitful time for these nasty missives, and for awhile I tried to fact check them and notify those who sent them to me of what was valid and what wasn't. But it wore me out and I decided to ignore them, figuring they'd go away after the election.
Anyway, I reached the critical mass with political words last week. It may have had something to do with the 100 soccer emails I had to read and write due to the abundance of rained out practices and games, and the clutter of junk in my inbox. My poor neighbor caught the worst of it, when I wrote her back saying I was happy to get her jokes and educational tidbits but could she please stop sending me political opinion pieces. What I wanted to say was "if I want to read Dick Morris' opinion I'll go look for it", but I tried to be kind. I do love my neighbor.
So several very quiet days went by. I feared I'd hurt her feelings. I debated whether I'd gone to far. Yesterday we spoke from one back deck to the other, and I got an earful of opinion, which is fine. Because it wasn't Dick Morris speaking to me.
And it's not just Dick Morris, it's also James Carville and a whole host of others. It just seems to me that so many of these people only get a paycheck if they are extreme; so extreme they are. I admit, I'd rather our government not have to do many of the things it is doing right now, but I don't think there is a lot of wiggle room for nipping this economic crisis in the bud. President Obama has barely been in office two months. Anyone saying ugly things about his policies already is clearly more focused on themselves than our country.
Tired of Politics © 2009
Janice Arrowood
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