…and now are too tired to plant the tree.
While this was going on, Jane was digging and preparing the bed, I was trimming iris leaves, sorting what will go to the church that helped us and what will go to the front lawn. This meant a 32 gallon trash can full of iris leaves and we haven’t even gotten to the ones next to the pond.
It’s a shame to flush that fish-poo rich water down the city sewer, so we have a bucket with a pretty potent pump to sink into the pond, and a hose that runs to a sprinkler. I shifted that hose about the pond edge for 1000 gallons of fertilizer-rich water, and that’s quite a job, particularly as the bucket and pump weigh about 30 lbs empty, and about 50 lbs full of water. I nearly broke my neck when the retrieval cord on the bucket wound around my ankle as I was headed down the steps to move the hose…didn’t fall, but it’s what they always tell you on a boat—don’t stand in the middle of a coil of line when you heave something into the water. La!
Now we have the pond refilling.
We’ve finally gotten a squirrel. I’ve always wanted a squirrel. Everyone we know has one, but we never have, and finally one fat cheeky fellow has decided he likes our bird feeder. So do the sparrows. And I’m so happy we have a squirrel I’ve put an ear of dried corn (with which I’ve been trying to lure one for years) into the bird feeder, hoping he will stay. We can manage to feed both city sparrows and squirrel. Our sparrows are getting so tame they land beside us while we’re working. They use the pond for a bird bath.
And our two very baby koi (3″ counting fins) we got to replace some that the eagle took are together and thriving, and are now brave enough to come out and swim with the big koi from time to time. We were so glad to see them out and about this morning!
It’s noon, time for lunch, and now my day’s REAL work starts. The book is starting to steady down and move again, after all the distress and disturbance. I know I’ll have to rewrite the front end, but that’s minor: I’m happy writing again; and Jane, who pushed herself way too hard 2 days ago, is well enough to bounce back pretty fast. It’s a good sign.
So that’s the news from here.
It’s so good to hear that your life is regaining its equilibrium.
Yes, indeed. Glad to hear it.
Is the eagle still hanging about? Do the koi know that they now can hide under the bridge?
The koi do hide under the bridge, and we haven’t seen the eagle since we started planking the bridge. Its sitting across the waist of the pond means he’d have to do some very tricky flying to strike in 8 feet or 10 feet, get over the bridge or miss the gazebo, and get airborne. They’re good, but I’m hoping they’re not that good.
You may regret the squirrel; wait until the first time he parks on the feeder and dumps as much on the ground as he shovels into his mouth!
Bleh. Squirrels are rats, they just get people to fall in love with them because of their pretty fluffy tails. They chew the hell out of attics and garages, and are vermin. I’ve lost belongings to squirrel infestations. You *will* regret attracting them (do you really think the tally will remain one?), I promise you.
Do I understand rightly that you’re changing out the water in the pond? Have you talked about the process before? What do you do with the koi in the meantime?
We have 800 million squirrels here, some black as Eushu, some the normal grey. Charming, all, but I tend to agree with Xheralt-ji. We also have them in the attic, where they chew through wires, etc.
We draw down about 500 gallons of the 4000, then replace it. The fish don’t notice. But we’re having a crisis this evening: I used a chemical that kills algae—but the day turned out hotter than I realized, and this threw the pond oxygen short. I’ve been running around for hours changing filters and arranging to pump water from a height into the pond, which oxygenates it. We have a waterfall, but big Ari is a bit oxygen short and not thinking clearly, and is hanging in the deep end, where the oxygenation is worst—resisting all attempts to shoo her to the waterfall. I think she’s ok now: I put a 950 gph pump in the bucket and fed it to a hose which falls off the bridge, and she’s hanging by that infall, and not breathing as hard as she was, silly creature. She and Ikkaku and Renji are in the deep end: the rest have had better sense. But I think they’re going to be all right. The shadow has fallen on the pond and the oxygenation of the waterfall and hose will be going all night. If we have another day like today I’ll draw off 2000 gallons and replace it with colder, more oxygenated water tomorrow.
Ha, fast check of the weather shows a low of 55 tonight, and only 77 tomorrow. That will help a lot. [Physics: warm water doesn’t carry as much oxygen as cold. And while live algae oxygenates, dead algae doesn’t, and becomes dead biomass, which lowers the carrying capacity of the water.]
They can also chew the car’s wires!
Tree rats.
THey’re pretty scarce here. Nobody I know has trouble with them.
We’ve had two squirrels living in our front yard for about two years and have had no problems with them so far. Watching them play in the trees is such a delight. Only one of our cats lives outdoors (flatly refuses to live indoors) and she is quite the hunter, so we make sure she stays well fed in order to protect our little bushy-tailed buddies. So far, so good. Enjoy your squirrel!
Species may make a difference, too. And they learn: one squirrel may teach another a trick. Ours are little grey ignorant squirrels. 😉 We live at near 2000 feet, and our little guys are apparently forest squirrels, who’ve been on the endangered list, apparently. The one that visits here selects the peanuts out of the seed mix, which nobody else likes, and the ones that throw seed on the ground are my rowdy little sparrows. I know they’re considered bandits, too, the sparrows, but they’re happy little fellows who spend a lot of time in the quince bush that shields my window and working chair from too much sun, so they and I get along fine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Gray_Squirrel
I kind of miss the variety of birds we got in the Valley; the house finches, goldfinches, waxwings, even a dove or two. The urban boys live here–sparrows, the sort that steal bread discards in fast food parking lots, but mine are well-mannered for the most part and much prefer the feeder. We have crows, or ravens: very black fellows who have nipped whole branches off the weeping cherry. We have long had a pair of robins, but have not seen them since the eagle raids, and we fear for them. Our little sparrows were certainly scarce during that time, however, and maybe the robins are just a little slower to come back. We have seen a family of California quail from time to time, which is coming from the wilderness area about a block away (line of sight to my house)—how those silly creatures survive to cross the arterial is scary to contemplate, but they’re apparently multiplying.
In the old Peanuts comic strip, Schultz always had Woodstock’s and the other birds’ dialog in exclamation points. Seems to me they must have been sparrows, because that’s how I hear sparrows talking in my mind’s ear — that “chip” call they have.
I was thinking about your comment of “blowing up” a Selectric type ball from your typing at breakneck speed. Occurred to me, that’s usually how I read your books–at breakneck speed. I have to be very careful about reading them at night before going to sleep because the next thing I know, I’ve turned the last page, looked over at the clock and it’s 6 oclock in the morning!
Sigh. If only they WROTE that fast!
no connection, but I thought you might like this article about something called the Oxford comma
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/jul/03/pass-notes-oxford-comma
There IS a reason for using it: to cause the skillful reader to go just a shade more slowly and to notice the last item. Read it to yourself with, and without, that comma.
Amazing the difference a well-placed comma (or lack thereof) can make. EATS, SHOOTS AND LEAVES?
And I agree with WOL about reading your books at bedtime. Yep. Been there, done that.
without that comma you are free to interpret the meaning several ways! elegant and accurate writing needs perfect punctuation.
I’m no expert on commas but a colleague I used to work with drove me nuts. His strategy (he even admitted it) was to never write more than a dozen words without using a comma. Apparently it didn’t stop him becoming a senior manager at IBM.
Once – and only once – I had a colleague reviewing one of my memos actually INSERT an extra comma. Usually they are far too busy (in my opinion) REMOVING them. I love commas; they set off thoughts so very nicely.