water lily
The Star of Zanzibar water lily is doing so well that we've had to thin it. Wayne removed a few pads as they were covering the whole pond. We can see Moby again. Littler Orenji is in the lower left and Ghost is hiding, as usual.
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it's a bird!...
As is our habit, my husband and I were sitting on the back porch watching birds at the feeders earlier this evening. He said, "what kind of bird is that?", causing me to look up from my ipad and squint at the faraway feeder. "IT'S A ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK !", I fairly yelled. "You're making that up", responded the spouse. Into the house for the camera...an older Panasonic Lumix...I tried to take a picture of the rare bird sighting. Here is the result: Okay, so I didn't hold the camera perfectly steady, and the 10x optical zoom didn't work magic by capturing a perfect image of this beautiful male specimen. These birds are not seen in central Florida often, in fact, rarely south of Georgia. They love oil sunflower, like cardinals, their kin. They have several lovely songs . Here is a picture that someone else took... Do I need a bigger, badder camera or RTFM for the one I've had for years? At least, I know I have to h
a little clarification
In 2009, we built a small koi pond. Last year we made it bigger. It's about 300 gallons and is home to our one koi, Moby. We have a good filter system, but lacked a clarifier. Thanks to my brother, Paul, who sent an Amazon gift certificate for Christmas, we were able to buy a TotalPond UV Clarifier for the pond. Wayne installed it a week ago. What a difference! Here's what the pond looked like before: (except without the carrots, and not as yummy). The filter was easy to install and will fit 1/2, 3/4, or 1 inch filter hose. We chose to install it outside the pond just in back of the waterfall. It can also be submerged. It will be hidden by plants behind the pond. It has an indicator light that glows blue to let you know it's working. In just one day the pond was a lot clearer, you could just see Moby. Today, just 5 days after installation, the water is almost completely clear. Moby can now see us and tries to hide when we get near. You'd think a