Don's Pond

Summertime

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:19:39 GMT

It was a long winter. This spring I introduced male toads to the turtle aquarium and they began to serenade the female (see "Who Gets the Worm?"). The videos attached are of the males singing in the aquarium. The noise they made went on all night long. Next morning, all toads went to the pond and 3 days later we had toad eggs. Eggs hatched, resulting in thousands of tadpoles and, some weeks later, multitudes of toadlets moving out into the neighborhood.

The Pond in Winter

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:36:01 GMT

Winter is a time when the pond is pretty quiet. The fish are at the deepest end with almost no activity, at times under 4 or 5 inches of ice. The frogs and turtles are hibernating, waiting for the return of warm weather. The waterfall can still bring something to enjoy. On a bright day, when the snow isn't blowing, it's still nice to listen to the sounds and watch the crystals form around the splashing water. Here is a video to share with you what I get to see whenever I want. Maybe you should think about adding a pond to your landscape. They are a little work, but add so much beauty and tranquility to any yard.

Hatchling Western Painted Turtles

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:31:54 GMT

Here are videos of the Western Painted Turtles hatched fall of 2007:

Beginnings and Purposes

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 03:31:20 GMT

January 31, 2007

I created this space today because I wanted an old college friend to see what I'd been up to the last 37 years. I had contacted him via telephone after finding him through a people search and some detective work. We talked last weekend and I promised to provide some pictures. Email is cumbersome and limited for sending large numbers of pictures. I had thought about setting up an album share at Kodak Gallery, then ran across Microsoft Live Spaces while researching a method of downgrading Windows Vista to Window XP. When I saw that I would be able to easily share not only pictures, but video as well, this seemed to be an exciting alternative. Many people have also expressed an interest in my pond project, my fake rock construction and my pond turtles that this seems a convenient way to share with not only my close friends, but the general internet community those skills that I have learned and executed since my retirement. There are a lot of people interested in water features and I would like to share what I have learned and accomplished. Time will tell how successful this personal blog will be.

Today, I added three albums reflective of what are now the important elements of my retired life. Album one is a potpourri of photographs of those people and animals that bring sweetness to my life. There will be many more additions to this. The second is a sampling of the pond project created in my back yard over the last two years . I will be adding much more to this album as well, since the pond is an ongoing project. The turtles that were in my classroom for 25 years now enjoy a comfortable retirement in the 2000+ gallon concrete pond landscaped with faux rock composed of cement and recycled styrofoam. One of my turtles (Western Painted-Chrysemus picta belli) was so delighted with it that she dug a nest at the side of the pond and deposited 8 eggs in July, 6 of which hatched. I now am raising 6 hatchlings, which will be featured in future additions to this space. The third album contains a sampling of the perennial flowers that adorn a berm garden that borders my pond.

Photo Album: July 19, 2008

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:37:10 GMT

July 19, 2008

Pond on July 19, 2008

7-19-08 from the south

7-19-08 West end

7-19-08 NW section

July 19 2008 two yellow blossoms

Reeds, Water lilies, water lettuce

July 19 2008 plants, turtles, fish, blossoms

Water Hyacinth

Water Lettuce, Lily pads and turtle

Pickerel Weed

More Photos...

Photo Album: My Pond in 2007

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 06:57:49 GMT

My Pond in 2007

The Pond as of July 17 2007

Waterfall with blooming flowers

Waterfall

Two Western Painted on island

Turtles basking with legs extended

Basking turtles with lily blossom

Bog plants in west end of pond

Bog rockwork from west

First layer of rock in bog garden

Artificial Tree Stump in Bog Garden

More Photos...

Photo Album: The Pond on July 4, 2008

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 06:45:31 GMT

The Pond on July 4, 2008

Pond viewed from the west end

Pond view from northwest corner

View to the right side from the west

View to the left side from the west

A view from further south

Pond view from the southwest

Pickerel Weed, reeds and water celery

Solar frog light, a gift from brother, Alan, at the west end

Photo Album: Bog Filter Construction

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 19:19:48 GMT

Bog Filter Construction

1. Site of Future Bog Garden

2. Bog area 05-09-07 1220hrs

3. Settlling tank and inlet 05-09-07 1221hrs

4. Bog area 05-09-07 1221hrs

5.Bog area 05-09-07 1516hrs

6. Bog drain and pond overflow 05-19-07 1455hrs

7. Bog area 05-19-07 1455hrs

8. Bog drain and pond overflow 05-19-07 1456hrs

9. Bog cleanout and drain 05-19-07 1456hrs

10. Bog drain_pond overflow 05-19-07 1456 hrs

More Photos...

Photo Album: My Garden Flowers

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:29:09 GMT

My Garden Flowers

The Pond in May

Island with poppies

Oriental poppy

Purple Pickerel Weed

Day Lily

Tiger lilly

Asian Lily

Purple Cone Flower

Echinacea

Yellow Cone Flower

More Photos...

Photo Album: The Family and Pets

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 22:42:13 GMT

The Family and Pets

Don (maestro loco)

Marcia and Don

Our son with mom and dad

Our youngest son and his girlfriend

My wife with our oldest son

Our daughter-in-law

Our sons and our grandchildren

Our grandson

Son and grandson

Grandson

More Photos...