annoying neighbors

Today, it is we who are the above.  I feel really bad about it, to tell you the truth. 

We are draining our swampy pool. 

We tried so hard this year to keep it from turning swampy.  We cleaned leaves and leaves and leaves.  Tried to keep the chlorine content working enough with all those damned (like, five trees worth) of leaves in it.  I managed til sometime in mid December to make it.  But then, it just got too hard.  And too cold. 

And it's been getting really green in the last week because it got warmer.

So we rented the drain and it's been spewing algae infested water all afternoon, and being noisy as all hell, and smelling like gasoline, too.  And it's getting close to being done, but not yet. 

We plan to buy a pool cover to try to combat this problem for next year.  We had meant to get one this year but it's harder than you would think to get one. 

But I'm really self-conscious about it and feel bad for our neighbors having to hear the "rrwawar" of the drain pump still going.  Hopefully it will be done soon so it will hush.  Sorry!  Sometimes, your neighbors are aware that they are being pains in the butt but there really doesn't seem to be any not irritating way to handle the issue.  And you don't want my pondy-swampy pool in your vicinity, a perfect breeding ground for many many mosquitos, either. 

Sigh.  Sorry!!

Koi-less koi pond

It's on its way. It's the pond I've been wanting for a long time. I want a bunch of fat, greedy fish struggling for dominance & popcorn. If you dig it, will they come?

Just across the sidewalk (and just peeking out of the right hand side of the picture) is my two years ago attempt at having a water feature in the back yard. Under the lip of the cobalt blue foundtain lives an old toad. I say old because he's been there about two years--that's gotta be old for a toad. Once I lifted the lid up and there was a much larger toad in there with him. I figure that was his lady friend and they had the Toad equivalent of the "baum chicka wa wa" music going on so I left them alone. I forget he's there sometimes when I'm fiddling with the fountain mechanisms and he moves & startles me. But he is quite happy there, I think.

But on the pond front, so far, so good. The floaty flowers on the water are right now just placeholders for the plants that are dropped into the water which will hopefully grow in a couple of weeks. Then we can drop some fishies in there for the racoons to enjoy. (Did I tell you there was a racoon in our tree two days ago? He kept covering his ears with his paws. He might have had a hangover and we were, technically, in his bedroom.)

This is what I've been doing with my spring break thus far. And procrastinating on the taxes. Maybe I'll plant the front garden today if I can drag myself away from Facebook long enough.

I like my angel,* and my little white solar light globe which catches the sun & sparkles off the water. There's a little wire bench for gazing at the koi (when they magic themselves in there) that you can't see. There are a few more improvements I'm thinking of making, but I'm happy with it as it is right now. I do wish, as I think everyone who ever makes one of these ponds wishes, that it was larger. One day I'll have a larger pond. It's something to hope for.

Ugly-sexy fish & an angel statue. What more could you want?


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*I'm not normally much for the cutesy angel statues with their fat putti cheeks & all but I like this one. And she reminds me more of a tree fairy or something. She's holding a brass-looking bird in her hands, by the way, and there's a very pretty blue bird feeder just overhead, so it looks very nice IRL.

Spring & All

This is Reserve Weekend, so Andrew is working. I figure he'll probably have to spend at least a little time "checking on the tenants" when he's off of the official work, too. So I'm on my own for the weekend with two very active babies.

The kicker: we're trying to eliminate naps on the weekend. Our kiddos are night owls-- it'll be 11 and they'll be wide awake running amuck. Because on weekends, they'd like to take a 3 hour nap. But if they don't nap, they're in bed, sometimes, by 7.

So I have a DIY project ahead-- I'm going to try to re finish this white cast aluminum table that's all covered in ick. However, the scourge of pollen that just fell on it makes me realize I need to move it to another part of the yard, first, or else have these tree sex bits stuck in the paint of my table forever & ever amen.

I'm not a religious person, really and like to think of myself as spiritual, rather. But there's an expression in the church (Lutheran). The preacher says:
"this is the day the Lord hath made" and everyone replies "praise be to God."

That's what I think about this day. In spite of it being difficult sometimes, it's a lovely gorgeous wonderful day with perfect babies (who are not angels, but just right and what I deserve anyway). And there's coffee. And not too much sneezing (thanks, Spring.)

Wasn't it T.S. Eliot who said "April is the sneeziest month?"