lots of things have been happening-- the patio and pond arent finished yet due to stone not being available darn it- but i do have fish in the pond -- i bought five comets and one Plecostomus to eat the algae-- i got a good deal on him-- i named him ORECK as he has eaten half the pond algae-- amazing-- he is pretty big -- the guy at petsmart said he had been in a 10 gallon tank and the owner brought him back as the tank was too small-- so i got a deal for $6 ...the price of the small plecs-- felt good about that --

i have learned ALOT about ponds and fish in the last few days-- i lost two of the comets- just turned up dead and floating on the top -- i may have parasites due to who knows what but could be from the plants i bought-- so i have to buy some stuff to kill the parasites and put it in the pond--

i also learned about plants-- its illegal to take plants from the wild-- i found a swampy area on a main highway here in town and picked some pickerel -- then found out i could have gotten in alot of trouble-- i have to disinfect them before i put them in the pond-- so again i have to buy some chemical to treat them--Malachite Green/Formalin
mixture twice with a 1 day gap in between. This will make sure you do not
have parasites in the pond.

also learned i should check the PH of the water--
The basic thing you want to check for is pH. For goldfish and plants, you want above 7 and more like 8

so this is turning into a big deal-- but its worth it for sure-- those little gold fish are so cool-- i want to provide the best home for them i can--
here is GREAT GARDEN SITE-- tons of forums on every subject - ponds, tropicals, violets- you name it there is a forum for it-- they have plant trading too -- i have gotten almost all my plants thru trading -- its really great and you meet super people-- GARDEN WEB

my son and his wife also just bought a house last friday-- its so exciting-- they are much closer to work and also their son will have a great place to play and kids to play with plus the house has a pool and he loves to swim...it backs up on a perserve so no one can build behind them-- it has tons of room - a beautiful screened in porch and its just a super house-- i am so happy for them---

they have to do some painting at old house and some other minor repairs ... but nothing thats too major -- packing will be the big job as they are pack rats -- i cant say much about that as i am a major pack rat-- so i guess like mother like son!!!!

been having lots of dinners with friends, went on garden tour on saturday - it was awesome and a couple of the people gave us some plants- i got a great stand of bamboo and also amazing sun flowers-- very cool

i have been working on my plants - repotting - planting seedlings- and generally giving them some tender loving care--
i cant wait for the pond patio to be completed and my plants in the ground-- its so hot now that i have to water twice or three times a day--




i also got my fire pit-- YAHOO target was out of stock for so long i was afraid they wouldnt get it back but sunday my friend thea called and said it was in the paper so at 8am i was at the door to get it-- will post picture tomorrow

still waiting on insurance company- they are dragging their feet with the check-- and i am OVER IT-- i called today but got nowhere- what a nightmare--
i have gotten contract drawn up for new owner-- and a title company lined up-- so need to get the details finished and sent out -- high priority