Like a babbling brook...

Finally, I found time today to overhaul the fish pond. I just went through this whole process a year ago, because the pump died. I bought a new pump last August; in January it failed. I didn't want to get into the pond when it was full of ice water, so I postponed the repair. Well, then I found it easy to procrastinate about getting it done. It's true that we were on a road trip for a month, and then we were getting the house ready for all of our kids to visit in June. Then the kids all showed up, and we had a great time. Then Patrick had eye surgery and spent a couple of days with us.

So, today was the day for the project. Actually, I cleaned out a bunch of algae yesterday, which helped a good deal, but the water was still cloudy and the pump was still broken. So, today, I tried to defeat the GFCI long enough to pump the pond dry, but after about a minute, the pump quit altogether. That put me in the position of having to hand bail 300 gallons of water by hand. Not fun!!

Part of the reason that I have procrastinated on this project is that I expected to have to fight with the pond shop to get a new pump. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Tranquility Ponds in Clackamas cheerfully gave me a new pump on warranty exchange!

Once I had the pump in hand, I installed it and pumped the last of the water out of the pond. Then I hooked up the pressure washer and cleaned the rocks and replaced the ones that the raccoon had dislodged last year when he ate my favorite gold fish. By five o'clock, I was filling the pond and trying out the new pump. It really looks great. Tomorrow, I will go to the pond shop again and buy some water hyacinth to float in the pond.

I had caught the two goldfish we had left in the pond and put them in a bucket while I was cleaning the pond. After it was refilled, I put the fish back in, and they seem to be very happy. So, I am very happy; Jill is very happy. Everyone is very happy. Pogo was not too happy while we were sitting by the pond watching the fish. She wanted more dinner...