Water Hyacinth Bloom

Don't blink or you'll miss it. These pond plants bloom very quickly. I noticed a little green nub growing up from it, yesterday morning. I thought it was just another water hyacinth baby, since they reproduce with no provocation. By noon it was obvious it was a bud, as it had a bit of lavender at the top. When I uncovered the pond, this morning, it had split off into 4 distinct buds. And by this evening, those buds were open. I hurried to take a picture, since the flowers will probably fade as quickly as they appeared. Aren't they lovely?

Homestead Happenings

When you work full-time, there is always a lot to catch up on, around the house, on your days off. Sundays are usually spent with the husband, which leaves Monday as the day when I attempt to make a dent in the house and yard work. Today's tasks were: bake bread, deep clean the coops, do a couple of loads of laundry, and make some apple butter/apple sauce.

I started by doing the laundry, hoping it would get dry before the rains came. It got about halfway dry before I noticed it sprinkling. Fearing a deluge was immanent, I brought the laundry inside and hung it on the drying racks. It never did pour, but one can't be too careful in these parts.

Next I disinfected the coops and when they were dry I sprinkled them liberally with some food grade diatomaceous earth (DE) and replaced the litter and nesting materials. I feel bad for the poor girls in the tractor. It must be awfully boring for them and they don't have a place to do what chickens love most, take a dust bath. I decided to make them a little sandbox. I placed some sand in a Rubbermaid shoebox, and added some DE to it.


The sandbox was a big hit! The chickens loved it, and took turns rolling around and throwing sand all over themselves. Here it is Shirley's turn, as Joanie looks on.


The Bantam run also got some attention. Their coop got the same treatment as the big girl's. I also placed some DE under the hay in their yard. My husband installed a lockable hasp on their coop door and fixed their ladder so it doesn't fall down. I have added a blue tarp roof in anticipation of the coming rains. Blue tarps are very popular here, in the Pacific NW. I am hoping the tarp and hay keep their yard from becoming a mud puddle. We'll soon see.


Here is a picture of Lenny & Squiggy. They are doing great in their little pond.


The garden is also coming right along. Here are my basil, no longer little stumps that get munched by the slugs. I may get pesto this year, after all. Better buy some pine nuts.


I've got my first 2 zucchini of the season. I need to hurry and eat them, before they turn into baseball bats.


And look at all these green tomatoes. I have my fingers crossed that they'll turn red here, real soon.



And yes, I did get the bread baked and the apple butter is cooking away in the crock pot. I still need to make a huge batch of applesauce, but that will have to wait until later in the week.

Pastie Resistance

Or pièce de résistance, for all you non-rednecks. The finishing touch for the new pound? Pond plants, of course. This morning we drove way-the-heck out on 176th, between Canyon and Meridian, to Alpine Nursery & Landscape. Also home to ThePondPad. I was on the hunt for a small water lily. Luckily they had one pygmy water lily left in stock. That was the good news. The bad news was the price. $29.99. Ouch! But I didn't drive all the way out there to come home empty handed. I also picked up a water hyacinth. Here is everything you never wanted to know about this water weed. I know, from previous experience, that they multiply like crazy. Odd that Washington State hasn't outlawed them, yet. They've done so with many other pond plants. I wanted to get some oxygenators but was informed that they cannot be sold legally in Washington. However quite a few did hitchhike, on my bought plants, so I got a bunch of them, for FREE. Thank you Washington. They are outlawed because they spread like crazy and can take over waterways. I do not intend to put my plants in a lake. If they get out of hand they'll simply be added to the compost pile....or fed to the chickens. The price of the water hyacinth? $1.99. Here is a picture of the completed pond.



The pygmy water lily.
(you can see the illegal plants floating around it)



The water hyacinth.
(already preggers)



Lenny & Squiggy enjoying their new plants.



Tonight I barbecued a little pork chop for my dinner. My husband let me borrow his tiny terracotta pig grill. No sense lugging out the big grill for one thin little chop.


I hope you are all enjoying your summer as much as I am loving mine.

Meet Lenny and Squiggy

No pond is complete without fish. In keeping with the apparent backyard theme, let me introduce you to the newest Willoughby family members, Lenny and Squiggy. I adopted them, this morning, from Petco in Tacoma. The adoption fee was certainly reasonable. 13 cents each. When I went to choose my new kids, from the many waiting in the "feeder fish" tank, I made the observation, "There sure are a lot of dead fish in here." My husband, always the helpful sort, reminded me that I should pick from the live ones. Thanks honey. And here they are, 26 cents worth of pure entertainment.


I'm sure it was a shock to their systems, going from a crowded tank, possibly even heated, to this backyard watering hole. Bet it was a lot cooler than they were used to. They didn't do much at first. Just hid and shivered. But by this afternoon Squiggy was Mr. Personality. He is not shy at all, and swims all about, trying to eat anything and everything. He quickly figured out what those floating pellets are for.


He has lots of energy and I have no doubt he will flourish in his new home. Lenny, on the other hand, is a Shrinking Violet. He stayed hidden most of the day, leading me to believe he wasn't feeling quite up to snuff.


But by this evening he was venturing out. I haven't seen him eat, yet. perhaps he'll have more of an appetite tomorrow. Welcome to the clan, little guys.

My Redneck Fish Pond

This morning I had my husband drive me out to Spanaway to pick up this half whiskey barrel I'd found on Craigslist for $10. New ones are going for around $50. I don't need new. Weathered looking is just fine.


I had been watching for a cheap whiskey barrel planter to use for a pond in my backyard. I already had this liner for it.


I bought it 4 years ago and had used it as an "in ground" pond. I had a pump, filter, the whole works. Even a lovely water lily. I had some feeder goldfish that were growing fat and sassy. Then the raccoons struck and demolished the whole works in one night. The sad thing is, the fish were so used to coming to the surface as soon as they saw my shadow, they probably swam right up and said, "Hi, Mr. Raccoon, are you going to feed us?". Bet they were surprised to find they were the ones on the menu. Such is life. I am ready to try again. This time I am not going to the trouble of digging a freaking hole in the ground. And I won't bother with a pump or filter. I'll do partial water changes and treat it as a big goldfish bowl. Easy peasy. I like easy. I killed off the red ants that had hitched a ride in the barrel. I already have enough ants, thank you very much. Then I cleaned out the liner with a scrubby and some non-iodized salt. I had saved this natural colored gravel when I sold my big fish tank.


Gravel is expensive. This is probably $30 worth. I rinsed it well and added it to the liner that was inside the barrel.


Next I filled up the pond using rainwater collected in my rain barrels. I am totally digging the rain barrels. So damn handy.


The water was a little greenish but I figure the fish will like it just fine. Now all I need are a couple of fish and a water lily, and I'll be enjoying the heck out of my little pond.