The Pond Re-do Begins

Dale has begun tackling the problem of our leaky pond. He removed the large clumps of plants that stood in the way of our view of the pond as well as those that were growing in the water. I enjoyed my OCD task of removing each and every piece of crushed stone I could find.

Then he drained the water from both ponds,

and laid a new underlay and then liner, over the top of it all. We filled it with water and re-seated the aquatic plants we'd saved. Dale very cleverly designed a wetland just beyond the pond to provide habitat for marsh plants in what we hope will be an overflow area. I would like to have some sundews and sphagnum moss there eventually. 

Utricularia vulgaris, or greater bladderwort, is native here, so I'm really hoping to add some to our pond eventually - it will be a reminder of my life at lake Arrowhead (It looks as if I'll have to order from specialty aquarium shops for this).

Next comes the prospect of hiding the liner in such a way that it will look natural - Dale has begun adding mossy rocks, and we've collected some branches and a log, but we don't want to create an amateurish-looking ring around the edge, so it's a design and engineering challenge right now to imitate nature. As vegetation becomes re-established, the ugliness of the liner should diminish.

We're keeping a guest book of pond visitors - frog, dragonflies, water striders and a bathing robin so far.

Old World Shrub

Viburnum opulus or Guelder rose (it's not really a rose) has spectacular showy berries that almost look artificial.

The leaves look very maple-like

This is an ornamental shrub with berries that are only edible if cooked, at which point they apparently smell like 'musty old socks' (Eat weeds).There are so many in my yard, and they look so luscious, but I'm not sure I'm that desperate!

You Alright?

People in Wales are friendly and greet each other openly, even if strangers, but what we find curious and unusual, are the words that make up the greeting, "You alright?" It's a U.K. form of "how are you?" but sounds oh, so weird to me. It makes me feel as if the person thinks I'm ill and I'm being asked if I'm okay. 

Even whilst browsing in a store, an associate might come up to us and ask "You alright?" which in this case, also means "can I help you?" It feels a little awkward, as in "why are you standing there - are you feeling okay?" It takes a bit of getting used to.

Having landed in such a peaceful, sunny spot as this, I'd say I'm alright!

Interestingly, teenagers in our town greet passers-by too, often initiating it themselves with the familiar "you alright?" They sometimes willingly exchange further pleasantries as they pass, such as, "you gonna make some jam?" when passing us as we pick wild blackberries! 

Last week, a neighbor's teen held a party, and one of the partygoers threw a vodka bottle into our yard as he passed by. We told our neighbor about it, and they agreed it was unacceptable. Next thing, two teens appeared in our driveway, and upon seeing us, said "you alright?" (aka hello). We hear there was a bottle thrown into your garden, and we've come to take it away. We also want to apologize on behalf of our friend."

Wow! Dale assured him we could take care of the bottle, and complimented him on apologizing for his friend, who needed to be told to "grow up." It was quite refreshing.

I love this next claim, written by Christopher Winn

In Wales there is nowhere that is not wondrous, nowhere that fails to amaze and charm, nowhere that does not bring forth the exclamation 'I never knew that!'

Wales is like nowhere else.

 

Seeing Things

I see the face of a small rodent in this butterfly wing. Black circle is the eye, hole in wing is the nose, bottom hairy edge of wing is the jawbone ...