We broke an all time high temperature record today (for our weather station which is about 2 years old).
An hour ago we hit 114 degrees F as a high temperature; now, after 45 minutes of rain, it's 75 degrees outside.
In 45 minutes, we got over 2 inches of rain.
I love the afternoon thunder and lightning storms!
Thursday, June 28, 2018
PERFECT JUNE WEATHER
Last year we had drought most of the summer, it was horrible, we were struggling to keep everything watered.
I worked all this past winter beefing up our irrigation system for this years possible "dry" summer but so far it's been a text book Florida summer month of June, with rain showers almost every afternoon.
Our plants never looked happier.
Since removing 500 fish from our large pond we've had no more oxygen problems and no more fish gathering at the surface of the water, catastrophe has been resolved.
To date we've only seen four total dead fish as a result of all the craziness. That is pretty incredible considering we moved and touched around 500 of them. :D
I worked all this past winter beefing up our irrigation system for this years possible "dry" summer but so far it's been a text book Florida summer month of June, with rain showers almost every afternoon.
Our plants never looked happier.
Since removing 500 fish from our large pond we've had no more oxygen problems and no more fish gathering at the surface of the water, catastrophe has been resolved.
To date we've only seen four total dead fish as a result of all the craziness. That is pretty incredible considering we moved and touched around 500 of them. :D
Monday, June 25, 2018
MOVING FISH!
Rain storms a few days ago left us with some weird thermal inversions in our big pond that caused the water to have a drop in O2 level, this made it very difficult for our panfish to breathe.
Hundreds of fish were laying at the surface of the water, gasping for air. In desperation we rigged up two oscillating sprinklers and ran them 24/7 to add some air back into the water.
TODAY, MONDAY JUNE 25 2018
Our very good friends Jason Werle and Steve Dolbow came over first thing Monday morning, Jason brought his cast-net, in short order we captured 250 tilapia, put them in Home Depot buckets and transferred them to our outer pond as their new home. No fish gave up their lives.
In addition our neighbor David came over with some 55 gallon trash cans, we gave him another 200+ fish for his pond. Tilapia love to eat algae and David was in the market for some of these fish because he had an algae bloom starting. The fish we gave him will take care of that algae in short order, they love it as a food source.
NOW WE WAIT
Was it enough to pull out almost 500 fish from the big pond? Will this help the O2 level for the remaining fish?
Time will tell.
Thank you to everyone for their help with this move. Because all present love the fish we did not lose a single life in the process of moving them.
Hundreds of fish were laying at the surface of the water, gasping for air. In desperation we rigged up two oscillating sprinklers and ran them 24/7 to add some air back into the water.
TODAY, MONDAY JUNE 25 2018
Our very good friends Jason Werle and Steve Dolbow came over first thing Monday morning, Jason brought his cast-net, in short order we captured 250 tilapia, put them in Home Depot buckets and transferred them to our outer pond as their new home. No fish gave up their lives.
In addition our neighbor David came over with some 55 gallon trash cans, we gave him another 200+ fish for his pond. Tilapia love to eat algae and David was in the market for some of these fish because he had an algae bloom starting. The fish we gave him will take care of that algae in short order, they love it as a food source.
NOW WE WAIT
Was it enough to pull out almost 500 fish from the big pond? Will this help the O2 level for the remaining fish?
Time will tell.
Thank you to everyone for their help with this move. Because all present love the fish we did not lose a single life in the process of moving them.
Sunday, June 24, 2018
Baby Dennis's are Here!
Today we spotted two baby Dennis' (actually, baby Heroes) visiting the pond, which means they fledged and left the nest.
To be specific, they are juvenile tri-colored Heron, and they are VERY white with delightful light green legs.
At first, Hero (our regular adult tri-colored Heron) said "Hailll Nooooo" and chased them away repeatedly. Now, he's given up and is just grooming next to them, accepting the fact that they're going to spend the day here with him. Hero, there are plenty of fish here, relax.....
To be specific, they are juvenile tri-colored Heron, and they are VERY white with delightful light green legs.
At first, Hero (our regular adult tri-colored Heron) said "Hailll Nooooo" and chased them away repeatedly. Now, he's given up and is just grooming next to them, accepting the fact that they're going to spend the day here with him. Hero, there are plenty of fish here, relax.....
Friday, June 22, 2018
The Southgate Seabreeze Bamboo Wall is Born!
Last week, I got very ambitious and, in spite of the heat and humidity, decided it was time to start to grow the south bamboo forest. We had the holes dug and ready to go so it was time to either 1) buy 15 3 gallon bamboo pots, or 2) do some digging in the current Seabreeze bamboo from 2016 and pull out some nice clumps.
I've been very very anxious to do a "proof of concept" and pull out some very healthy clumps from the Seabreeze wall. When we planted those 3 gallon Seabreeze bamboo plants, we placed them right next to each other rather than leaving 1 foot or 2 feet between them.... which means, there was PLENTY of bamboo to share. I knew if I just picked a nice spot and began digging, I could pull out enough to populate the south gate with very little impact to the existing nice fluffy Seabreeze wall.
It took probably 6 hours total of digging, pulling, and sawing with the Makita reciprocating saw (bamboo rhizomes are a healthy bunch!)... but I did it! Here's the first pictures of the new Southgate Seabreeze wall.
(add pictures soon!)
I've been very very anxious to do a "proof of concept" and pull out some very healthy clumps from the Seabreeze wall. When we planted those 3 gallon Seabreeze bamboo plants, we placed them right next to each other rather than leaving 1 foot or 2 feet between them.... which means, there was PLENTY of bamboo to share. I knew if I just picked a nice spot and began digging, I could pull out enough to populate the south gate with very little impact to the existing nice fluffy Seabreeze wall.
It took probably 6 hours total of digging, pulling, and sawing with the Makita reciprocating saw (bamboo rhizomes are a healthy bunch!)... but I did it! Here's the first pictures of the new Southgate Seabreeze wall.
(add pictures soon!)
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
BAJA 200 MINI BIKE, POST CLUTCH REPLACEMENT
It was easier than I thought it would be, our first Baja 200 mini bike has now received a full clutch replacement with an OEM part from Amazon. It has the same pathetic "grab" as the original but it's working and should last through Paul's vacation visit.
Monday, June 11, 2018
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