Tootfinder

This boy told me you could catch sunfish and bass in the pond north of Dwyer Memorial Park when I was there for a car show this Sunday
#pond #photo #photography

And this my friends is why our #pandemicpond and #poolpond will never, ever, be connected to the house water system! Directly or with a ‘sensor' system, never. Ever.
If the pond looks a little low... you top it up from a rain barrel, or a tap... or you let it go low and wait for rain.
$6000 water bill is INSANE. Our quarterly bill is usually under $150 in the winter and under $300 in the summer months.
#water #waste #pond #DIY #gardening
https://cheknews.ca/saanich-couple-hit-with-nearly-6000-water-bill-after-hidden-leak-1290221/

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #VarietyMix
Pond:
🎵 Sweep Me Off My Feet
#Pond
https://pondling.bandcamp.com/track/sweep-me-off-my-feet-live
https://open.spotify.com/track/2YAxd5XsCdgdyKOqsDWa3H

#Autumn reached #Iłowa.
#hiking #pond

Pond Slider turtles basking on the rocks in a pond. LA Arboretum, Arcadia, California, USA. December, 2024. #laarboretum #turtle #pondslider

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #MiddayShow
Pond:
🎵 Agatha
#Pond
https://open.spotify.com/track/51T98Z2SzLxaRcjQ2sLZrw

2/2 Then it was time to decide exactly how to create the manifold to direct the return water back into the pond or into the filter. I decided that I wanted the manifold to be well within the pond liner in case anything was leaking so I cut the black tube and extended the PVC to meet it into the main area of the pond.
One valve goes to the bottom return sprayers. One valve goes to what will be sprayers along the long edge of the pond. And the last valve allows water to go into the filter.
Note to self: at least one of these valves must be open at all times if I don't want to blow up the pump :-)
#poolpond #diy #backyardProject #watergarden #pond #pondlife

Placid pond with rocks and reflections. And a duck. #laarboretum #landscape #pond #reflections

Now that we have had our brief bit of fun with the #poolpond, it’s time to drain it so work on completing it can continue! It took just over 12 hours for my little spare pond pump to empty the main pond of about 80% of its water.
It will be empty by morning. I will empty the filter and intake bay as well just to clean everything out. The movement of the past couple weeks through the system will have loosened up a bunch of the gunk still on the various rocks in the filter so a full pump out should remove all that.
I will then concentrate on finishing the piping in the bottom of the main pond for the intake for the second pond and the “periscope” for the bottom returns.
Then I can work on building the rock wall to line the inside of the pond. Or at least experimenting to see if it will work at all!
If it *does* work and I have enough rock to at least start on the bottom layers of the inside wall, then I’ll be able to achieve another milestone: placing the final pebble on the bottom. Important, because that will prevent any groundwater from infiltrating and causing the rubber liner to bubble out.
Really really want to get past that mark before the autumn rains come! For obvious reasons! ☔️
Other jobs that need to be done before winter:
- finish the manifold for the second pump to distribute water to the sprayers and filter and figure out how and where to house and conceal it.
- Dig the electrical trench from the house all the way around the long side of the pond to the back tool shed so we can start wiring it in.
- Clipping the wires on the pumps and adding extension wire to them so they can reach said electrical supplies.
- permanently shore up/modify the borders of the ponds where they were found to be low.
- make a few other minor terraforming modifications for the stream and some of the edges so the water goes a little more where I want it to and a little less where I don’t.
#poolpond #backyardProject #portalberni #ponds #watergarden

Mallard Duck, resting on a rock in the middle of a placid pond. #laarboretum #duck #mallard #pond

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on #KEXP's #DriveTime
Pond:
🎵 Don’t Look at the Sun (or You’ll Go Blind)
#Pond
https://pondling.bandcamp.com/track/don-t-look-at-the-sun-or-you-ll-go-blind
https://open.spotify.com/track/4IpgE06AUnzEJsWSoydRGp

Got my water/utility bill for the spring/summer yesterday. (we get billed 3 times a year as part of our general city utilities bill including water, sewer and garbage/recycling fees).
Figured it would be a big water year this year so I've been wanting to see this. And of course, I have data going back to 2019ish.
Today's bill only goes to August 1st, so it doesn't include when we started to fill the #pondpool!
This was already a dry year in the spring and we were doing lots of watering in the front yard for the new ground cover in the modified driveway and the 3 new fruit trees.
Verdict:
2024: Apr 12 - Aug 7: 122, 200L
2025 Apr 14 - Aug 1 (7 less days!): 136,600L
It will be interesting to see if the August pond filling will add a big chunk onto our summer/fall consumption or if that is offset by both the brief August water restrictions, and the departure of both kids this fall to consume other people's water. ;=)
If you want an indication of how much water people use vs. yards: look at our August 2022 bill, which captures when we were on our cross-Canada roadtrip for 30 days in July/August of the 100 day period.
#water #consumption #gardening #utility #PortAlberni

pick up a rock
clean a rock
move a rock
place a rock
pick up a rock
clean a rock
move a rock
place a rock
#poolpond #diy #backyardProject #watergarden #pond #pondlife

emptied the pond overnight. We have had so much rain this past month! All are full. I am going to drain it all and keep it drained until I get the pumps wired and can habe them installed and running. Don't want the water to get stale and unhealthy.
I think I might hire a stone mason to build the wall.
moving the pump into the intake bay now. It should be empty by the time I am back from the day's ceremonies.
#poolpond #diy #backyardproject #portalberni #gardening #pondlife

Progress.
Attachments and hose lengths made final for the second pump. Caps drilled with holes for each return bottom outlet. Three loads of gravel dumped into the #poolpond for the floor. Then I realized there was a section of the wall near the yellow crate that was not actually touching the inner wall, meaning there was a gap. Not good. But the sun has broken through the morning fog so it’s too hot in the hole now to fix it. Will have to wait until Labour Day!
This weekend is the 1 year anniversary of renting the digger to make the holes! I am about where I figured I would be one year later :)
#backyardProject #diy #pond #pondlife #gardenpond

Thank god it wasn't too hot today (only 27°C). It still felt like a million degrees in the hole as I pulled and shifted and adjusted the pond liner so it would lay flush against all the contours of the hole and gradually locked it in place with the gravel.
All the gravel bottom is in. The bottom plumbing fixtures are set. And I even managed to start playing with how the stairs might look/work.
I ran out of steam after shoveling/hauling/spreading the last load of gravel 🥵 🪏 🪨
#poolpond #backyardProject #diy #pondlife