Fixing the Pond: The Sequel

After Victoria and I spent some time, a few weeks ago, looking for the leak in our pond, and after attempting, without success, to fix the leak, I broke down and ordered a brand new pond liner. Click here to read about our first attempt to fix our leaky pond.

It had been eighteen years since we first installed our pond liner, so I suppose it was time for a new one. However, I was pleased to note that the new liner has a 20-year warranty, and an 80-year life expectancy. Either way, this should be the last time we have to replace the liner in this pond.

Since our community no longer has a place to buy pond supplies, I ordered the new liner from Amazon. It arrived in two days, as promised. Then, the following Saturday, Victoria and I started to work.

It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it. It took the better part of two days and four someones: Bill, Victoria, Levi, and me. 


Victoria started the first morning by cleaning out several five gallon buckets. (For some reason, she waited to take off her pink socks after that job required her to stand in a puddle of water.) As we emptied the pond, we filled the buckets with assorted plants and fish. 

Our four goldfish easily survived overnight in their bucket, with a little help from an aerator, and a few goldfish pellets thrown in for good measure.



We discovered, quite some time ago, that a shop vac works great to remove water and sludge from a pond. It takes just a few seconds to slurp up an entire canister of water, and a couple of minutes to fill it up with nasty sludge. Emptying the container takes the most time and effort, but the wheels make it pretty easy. (The shop vac would roll easier if I hadn't planted all that thyme in the sidewalk cracks.)

  
Bill helped remove the rocks and inevitable sludge at the bottom of the pond. 
It wasn't his favorite part of the day.


We spread the rocks on a tarp. 
Then, Victoria gritted her teeth and scrubbed the algae off the biggest rocks.


It took all four of us to hoist the filthy old liner out of the pond and move it over to the basketball court, where we laid it out to dry before folding it up. I plan to throw it in the back of the pickup with some tree branches, and make a trip to the dump later this week.


The pond looked much better after the old liner was removed. The foam underlayment was still in good shape. When we lifted it to look at the sand underneath, we could see right where the water had been leaking out of the pond. It was rather gratifying to find that the "milk trick" had shown us exactly where the leaks were. Unfortunately, there were several small leaks where some small roots had been growing through the liner, so it had been impossible for us to patch them all.


It took all four of us, once again, to stretch the heavy, new liner across the pond. Then we turned on the hose and let the water mold the liner into place. Bill installed the new pump, and we called it a day.


Sunday afternoon's work was much more satisfying. After cutting the liner and edging it with bricks, the kids and I placed the rocks back into the pond while Bill hooked up the UV filter system, which should keep most of the algae out of the pond. Then, we replaced the wooden bench, dumped the fish back in, and sat down to enjoy the fruits of our labor.


Ahhh! Much better!


I have seen personally what is the only beneficial and appropriate course of action for people: to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all their hard work on earth during the few days of their life which God has given them, for this is their reward. 
  Ecclesiastes 5:18 NET Bible

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Three Weddings and Too Many Funerals

Image
It's been fifteen years since my middle daughter, Meagan, married Andy. Fifteen years of living and working in and around Gering, and five, almost six, children later, everyone they know would say that they are happily married. Their wedding was big and formal, and held in our church, like many weddings were then, at least here in Gering, with a sit-down dinner and dance afterward at the Civic Center. They both grew up here, and were well-known in the community, so many local people attended their wedding. In addition, they each had large extended families who were willing to travel quite a distance to be present for their big day. It was a memorable day, for sure. Fifteen years ago, our family was quite small. They both settled in to teaching, living in an old house on Andy's family's farm before building a house at the same location about ten years ago. Now, Andy continues to teach at Gering High School, while Meagan has been focusing her teaching skills on her own childr
Read more

Introducing Anna

Image
Anna Elizabeth Tyler was born almost three weeks before her due date, at 10:53 a.m. on Monday, October 30th, 2023, in Columbus, Ohio. She weighed 5.45 pounds, and was 17.25 inches long. Her entrance into this world was more dramatic than we had hoped, since she had to spend eleven days in the NICU to monitor her breathing. But, after the initial scare, she is nursing well and growing appropriately at home. Anna at just a few days old Anna is the only one of our eight grandchildren who has spent any time in NICU. At one month of age, she is still small, but she is finally outgrowing her preemie clothes and moving on to newborn sizes. It's hard to be more than 1200 miles away from family when they need help, but contemporary forms of communication make that much easier than it used to be. Nevertheless, Bill and I were glad to join our daughter, Erin, her husband, Reed, our grandson, Will, and baby Anna, for Thanksgiving. We got to see for ourselves how their whole family is thriving.
Read more

A Little Covid

Image
Like so many of you, I am tired of hearing about Covid-19. As I look back to 2020 and the intervening years since then, I can't help but think that our government, along with many others throughout the world, may have overreacted, insisting on too many, perhaps unnecessary, restrictions. However, the fact remains that I am currently quarantined at home because, for the first time, I officially have Covid. I would never have known I have Covid except that it morphed into a sinus infection. So, I dutifully made my way to Urgent Care because I knew I would need an antibiotic to get over it. And, of course, I had to have a test to rule out Covid and Influenza A. Except, even though my vaccinations are up-to-date, the test was positive for Covid. My Covid symptoms have been minimal, probably because I’ve been vaccinated: some fatigue, some sneezing, and a headache that won't quit. Initially, I passed off those symptoms as my normal allergy symptoms, aggravated by the windy condition
Read more