The geographical center of my backyard is also it’s heart. The Little Pond. When we built our home twelve years ago, we had to blast through granite to put in the foundation. At the end of that process, there was a hole for the basement, and a lot of rock. Boulders were used for stone walls, but what to do with a 17 ton behemoth with a blasting hole straight through it? I turned it into a water feature. A hole was dug, a liner installed, a crane was brought in, the rock was placed just so, a filter and a pump was installed, and water circled up through that rock and down into the pond. Frogs and toads laid their eggs in the shallows, herons came, and birds bathed.
Here is what it looks like in the summer.This photo was taken on the day that my home was on a garden tour. For a video of that, click here.
I bought a 3-inch koi. She grew. Which is an understatement. I named her The Beast. She is now a wise old fish. She lives with goldfish. I call them her minions.
In the winter, the pond freezes over, but the pump continues to move and aerate the water below. The Beast goes into a form of hibernation.
The Blizzard dumped 30 inches of snow on top of the rock. It needed to be cleared off for the pump to function.
Thank you, Steve,
Good job Steve.
He is a better man than me. I would have hired the two neighbor teenagers up the street.
Yes, good job, Steve! I see that there will be more shovelling ahead today: It looks like you might be getting another foot of snow in your area.
These storms are keeping Steve extra busy!
Poor Steve….it just doesn’t stop. What does he do for fun?
Shovels snow?
I bet he talks to the goats- that’s what I would do!
He does like visiting with the goats.
Mother Nature is just not giving you a break, is she? Your current snowstorm was dumping on us in Indiana the last two days. We only got a foot of snow and that seems bad until I check in on the Hen Cam. Buried again!
Yes, it’s really coming down! I expect to be able to measure 4 feet on the ground total before these series of storms pass.
Well, I got my view of snow-up-to-the-crossbars-of-the-gate this morning—Mercy! Happy shoveling.
Your pond is so beautiful!! That’s a lot of snow. We miss Colorado and having real seasons.
WOW! Now that is a lot of snow on the ground. Just checking on hens and saw all that snow at coop WOW !!!
That is more than we have had in Anchorage all winter. And you have the winning football team too.
That is a whole lot of white! I am wondering with snow that deep how Steve knew where exactly the edges of the pond were? Have any of your family or animals ever fallen in during times of heavy snow fall?
No one has fallen in. We get over to the big rock by the backside, where there’s only a inch or two of water/ice.
Checking on your Hen Cam. WOW!!! That’s a lot of snow!! I like your nice beautiful pond! Keep warm! Happy Ground Hog’s Day!!! 6 more weeks of winter! Bah! Humbug!
Here in MI we turn our waterfall/ filtration system off for the winter and just put in a small aquarium aerator to keep a hole open. The cold temps, the “hibernating” fish, and the minimal amount of sunshine (creating algae growth) mean no need to filter. Be very careful about shoveling on ice or chopping holes through the ice. The vibrations can stun and kill the fish at such low temps.
Thank you for that word of caution. I hadn’t thought about the vibrations from banging. We don’t chop the ice on the pond – just the ice on top of the rock where the water comes out.
Good Morning Terry,
At 11.41pm 2/2/15 on the HenCam my clock says 6.41am 3/2/15. Now as I know you are five (and not seven) hours behind us in the UK I guess that means that the HenCam is frozen.
I am off to a poor start to the day – unable to check your real temperature or view your wall of snow. I imagine that Steve’s day will also be off to a poor start as well. At least I can guess – he’ll have to dig. I am thinking of you, as you can tell. I was a bit envious (of the view from your upstairs window) but that was last week!!
The main cam was down, and the GoatCam still has issues, but ITGuy Steve is on it. First, though, he has some shoveling to do :)
Wow that is a lot of snow…. I’m watching Steve shoveling snow there off the Hen Cam. Goats are inside watching him…hahaha!