Went to the pond this morning....flowers pods on the tree are almost 1/2 inch long!!!! yeeehaaaa!!!!!! yippppeeee!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :D
Spring is coming! ( I think it's a dogwood )

Glad that Spring is peeking around the corner in your neck of the woods Sadie. That should put a little "spring" in your step!!

I have been seeing the signs too. The fish are move active now that the water is warmer! We will be doning our scuba gear pretty soon to start the cleaning ritual. ;)

Central Ohio too. Hyacenths are out of the ground (affraid they may not survive) buds on trees under 6 in of snow right now hopeing that I will wake up and it will be spring ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh spring I CaNT WAIT!!!!

C2


:( sorry KK

WHAT'S SPRING?

I have to mow the lawn today ...

B)

I'm not a violent person, but I wanna kick some booty after that lawn comment. :P It snowed last nite. <_<

I knew that was coming ... I appologize :( (I wish there was an sad emoticon with sunglasses)

In a couple of weeks we're taking a vacation to the mountains.
We're going snowboarding, and we have to drive 7 hours to get to the snow.

Sorry Sadie ... now you probably want me to turn around to kick me somewhere else!! :blink:

I'm with Sadie! Everyone get in line for a kick at PG! :huh:

Storming here today. Supposed to get about a foot.

I go snowboarding all the time in the windter....but I usually refer to it as driving to work. :angry:

:lol:

I can't wait for spring.I am soooo sick of snow and the cold.All last week the temps were -20 F. Now last night and today snow, snow and more snow.
I might see spring in another 6 weeks if I'm lucky.

swampview :( :(

Supposed to be 50 tomorrow and 56 w/rain tomorrow I am hopeing that I have seen the last of ground covering snow. It should be all off the ground by Monday and I am ok if I dont see it again this year.

Mow the lawn where the heck are you????????????????

C2

hitting 70 in tennessee tomorrow!!!but then sopposed ot get snow tuesday!!!

I would rather cut grass than shovel snow

swampview

For sure...beer freezes when you set it down in the snowbank! :rolleyes:

I'm in the middle of California, about 20 miles from the coast ... as a crow flies.

B)

I saw a few hyacinth busting the earth today by my pond. The crocuses are coming up too.

You guys are soooo lucky

swampview

Well I guess it's just you and me Swampy! Oh well, at least when we DO finally get Spring, we will be able to celebrate together, LOL. Of course everyone else will have moved onto summer by then :P I am just happy that my pond ice has shrunk to about 13" in depth now. Far cry from almost 3 feet thick I had earlier! We just had another blizzard, just when some dirt was starting to show through on my bank! I have been playing with my new pond software, so at least I am "looking" at green grass and flowers and plants, lol, lol, lol!

Dont I get to join the KK and Swampy club? I'll bring the rum!!

Well, my de-icer lost the battle to Mother Nature over night. We had a foot of snow and really strong winds with a lot of drifting....and the stupid de-icer has sunk out of sight! :(

I can't tell if the hole has frozen over because it is covered with snow. I am tempted to try and get over to the pond to see what's going on, but I don't like the thought of wading 6 feet of snow there and back. It is supposed to warm up some by mid-week, so I am hoping it will melt the hole in the pond again. Will a couple of days with no hole in the ice hurt the fish?

Derrick

I had to drill a hole in mine and let the water out and now it floats really good again. I guess since you brought up the "rum" that we MIGHT let you join our group, LOL

Good Morning

I'm new to this forum, but thought you might like to see my efforts at ponding. I taught science for 34 years and retired 4 years ago. The turtles that I had in my classroom deserved a good retirement, too, so I built a pond in my backyard for them to live in. It is 9ft x 17ft with depths of 22" to 46" and an island at one end. I built it of reiforced concrete with recycled styrofoam aggregate, polyproylene fiber and acrylic admix. The rocks are all artificial and lightweight. I built my own skimmer system and circulate 1800 gal/hr through the filter and over the waterfall.

Here is a link to my Windows Live Space that contaings pictures.

Don's Pond

Don Perry
(Maestro Loco)

Hi Don! Welcome aboard! What a gorgeous pond you have! I have never seen a pond built like that before and I must say it is amazing! I love the look of the concrete and rock, super cool. Thanks for posting the link to your pictures. What a great retirement hobby ponding is and you look to be really enjoying yourself! I must say however, lol, that I am more than a little jealous of your pond, LOL!!!

P.S. Your turtles are great!!

KoiKrazy

I spent about a year reading and learning as much as I could about ponds. I started with Robyn's site. When I started costing the project, I was dumbfounded by the cost of rocks. In our area (Northern Illinois), rock is sold by the pound and I could have spend tens of thousands of dollars. I was also concerned about the weight of large rocks, how to move them about and the possible need for foundation support to prevent settling. SOOOO, I started researching faux rock construction, finally found a site that offered DVD classes in faux rock and bought the DVD's. School of Faux RockAfter some experimenting, I found that I could produce just about any kind of rock. The pond in a continuing project. I'm working on a bog filter (the picture with the fake tree stump, which will contain a settling tank and pump) that will be finished this spring. If you noticed, there is a school behind my property. The teachers bring their 5th graders over to my yard and I teach about pond ecology. I'm also working on creation of faux fossil beds, such as a replica of the Burgess Shales to teach about fossils. I'm currentely working on creating a replica Ichthyosaur to embed in the rock layers.
Sorry to gab so much, but my pond activities have become a major part of my life. My wife and grandchildren love it, too.

Don

Very nice Don!

PG, nobody likes a smarty pants! :)

Glad you are getting some sun. Don't forget the sunblock though. :) B)

Hello Don and welcome!
Sounds to me like you and your turtles really aren't all that retired. ;) :lol:

You have some interesting ideas for you pond. It sounds pretty cool!
I wish I lived closer to come see when it's done. I hope you post some pics for us!

Tia

That's a really neat pond, Don! Do you just have Western painted turtles in there? They are beautiful. Are they native to Illinois?

Is that video of the turtles and toad eating king mealworms (superworms) your animals or someone else's? If so, why is the toad with the turtles? I gave my 6.5 inch Eastern red-bellied turtle a king mealworm once. He chased it and then let it drown.

I have a small rock by my pond with a fake fossil etched into it but it would be neat to have a big fossil by the pond.

DON THAT IS GREAT! what a great place those turtles are great with there legs out welcome to the board I hope you come on and chit chat we all here well....everyday at some point.

That toad/frog had the best expression and the turtles we VERY FUNNY

TODAY IT WAS 70 TODAY and yes the fish were swimming man that made my day gonna snow tonight arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

C2

To Superfishy
Go to this page to see pix

Don's Pond

Robyn
I have Western Painted and Red-Earred sliders. The sliders were given to me by people who didn't want them. The Westerns are native to the midwest.

The video of the toad and turtles is mine. One of my female Westerns laid eggs on July 7, 2007 in the dirt area around the pond. Eggs laid that late usually hatch and the hatchlings overwinter in the nest with a high mortality rate. Incubation is about 70 days, so on October 1, I carefully removed the hatchlings from the nest and put them in a turtle aquarium (with heater and filter) in the house. They have grown from about the size of a quarter to 2-3 inches. My granddaughter found the toad in a windowwell at her house solidly frozen. When she brought it to me, I put it in the aquarium, where it thawed, revived and has more than tripled in size through the winter. I have six Western hatchlings that get along just fine with the Toad (Bufo americanus). They sometimes use him as a log, but he doesn't seem to mind. I'll try to post more videos as I have time. I hope to put the babies and the toad in the pond area in May. My pond has a two-foot surround made from landscape blocks and faux rock that keep the turtles from escaping, but also provides a planting and nesting area around the pond.

Don

beautiful pond. Love the island in the middle. How'd you make your skimmer? I haven't been able to get it right yet. :angry:

i think tennesse weather is the worst!!!!! was about 69 over night and is gona drop to 35 by evening we slept with windows open last night!! ill be glad when i can move my little pop up pond back outdoors!!! they have been getting to go out during day and my little fishy love it!!!

Jess,
I haven't seen you on here in awhile. I still don't have any chickens!!!!! How are all of your critters?
Ellen

Nice pond, Don. I love your turtles.

KK I have never seen ice so thick in my life!! Every time the subject gets on weather around here (Tennessee) I bring up how thick the ice is in your pond!! 76 here Sunday and SNOW this morning. I call it snow but northerners call it "flurries"!!

Swampy....I like that.....it has a nice ring to it!!!!!

Ellen

hey ellen!! my computer has been out just got it back!! dont you just love our weather here!! we havent got any snow at my place yet but its on the way. all my critters are good!! we are up to 25 chickens a pair of turkeys and we also got a shetland!!!! shes a love and you still havent talked hubby inot letting you be a good ole chicken farmer?

Jess,
No, I haven't talked him into it yet, but I have not given up!!! They are the prettiest chickens I have ever seen and I want some!! I will let you know if it ever happens. We have more snow coming tomorrow night .......so they say. It's really good talking to you again!!
Ellen

The water lilies are starting to shoot some leaves up!! :rolleyes:

Another 10 or 12 inches before they make it to the surface, then I'll have my first few lily pads of the season.
No flower pods yet ... probably have to wait at least a couple of more months for those.
:)

PG

hey ellen we never did get snow!! will you send me some? and if you ever talk himinot it let me know ill meet you half way witha breeding pair!!!!! i had a rose open up on my climbing tree today!! spring is ont he way

Jess,
It snowed pretty hard for a few minutes but nothing stuck. They are saying maybe we will get snow Thursday night and Friday. But the weatherman is NEVER right. Hope you get some snow. I saw a Weeping Willow tree that had a green tint to it. Roses already??? That is a good sign.
Ellen

The weeping willows next door & across the street have tiny green leaves sprouting.
Our big ash tree in the backyard has leaves popping out all over. The ash tree seems to be the last to lose its leaves, and first to get them back.
The standard callistemon on side of the house has a handfull of bottlebrush flowers showing.
The weeping callistemon didn't fare too well during the frost, but it looks like it may come around.
Some hummingbirds are making their return.

Spring is pretty much here.

B)

Hope it gets to you all soon, up north & out east!!

PG

It can't come fast enough to please me! I'm about ready to pull a "here's Johnny" from the Shinning. :angry: