Rain gauge & water pump

Rain Gauge

We had rain for a couple of days in a row. It was too bad for the kids going out to trick-or-treat. 

I'm glad I didn't drain the water barrel. The fresh water is good in the goldfish pond. We've a few frogs in it. I want them to be able to hibernate.

 I enjoy keeping track of rainfall. Stratus is the gauge I have used for years. It is 'built to US Weather Service standards.' Some of the professionals have them. The first one I bought is from 2015.

2015

 

I taped it for a few years. The tape just falls off. The funnel keeps falling out of line. Which doesn't matter too much, as it captures it at the bottom. But in the dark, in a rain storm, it is irritating!

I've dropped it, on very cold days, and cracked my original kit. I've cracked the larger cylinder, too.

I put it on my wish list one year. It was available from Lee Valley Tools. No more. Looking for a new one, the prices shocked me. (Have you heard about tariffs?!) Yes, the consumer pays them.

This is about what we paid awhile back, this one isn't available. I clicked on the link, and it gave me a 404 message. They are out of stock, I suppose.

Once I began searching for it, it would pop up in my google ads, of course. But I'm not shopping at Walmart or Wayfair anymore. Not with tariffs, and billionaires profiting off the items.

Wayfair

Even on American sites it is out of stock.
With the exchange rate, it would be $65.85 CAD, plus shipping.

Amazon

Also Amazon. A knock-off, methinks.
That, I do not trust.

I ended up doing a better job of my repair. Several layers of clear packing tape. Whatever that doohickey is named around the rim reinforced it. 

Bird bath

Another problem with Amazon. I am trying to avoid it, going to the publisher or manufacturer's websites directly. Canada doesn't make these products, though. There was a simple pump that lasted 10+ years. The pumps helps stop mosquitoes laying eggs in the water. They like still water.

I first bought it in 2020, and then in 2023. It lasted two years. Not bad for something that lives in water 24/7. We have terribly hard water.

I ordered a replacement pump/light from Amazon. 

This is what they sent. No fancy LED lights. I have complained, twice. Once to the seller, once to Amazon. They don't seem to care. 

They can't get it right. Some weirdo seller. That's up to me. I should have checked it out. I am culpable.

Goldfish pond, phlox, Fred

 Here is my goldfish pond in happier times. That is, prior to the people putting in the eavestrough [see: Our eavestrough replacement]! The pink phlox was so pretty!

I managed to find the missing piece to the pump, but it fills with pond muck so much it requires cleaning every couple of days. What do I have to do, though?! I am retired. 

I spent an afternoon pulling out dead branches, and cleaning this garden, as well. I had forgotten about the workers who installed the eaves, and wondered if that's why my phlox have died. I hope the phlox come back next year. The rose bush seems to have died, as well.

Lots of critters liked the phlox: tree frog, dragonfly, swallowtail, sphinx moth.

We've several leopard frogs in the pond. 

The backyard looks crisp. The Viper's Bugloss has gone to seed. The goldfinches love it.

Fred groundhog is a hoot! 

Fred groundhog from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo

I captured me doing the lawn! I avoided about 15 leopard frogs, sitting in the longer, moist grass, as well as a wee garter snake. 

The beautiful, aromatic Asiatic Lily attracted the hummingbird. You'll have to use your imagination, again! 

We are desperate for rain, as is the way in August. I was hopeful yesterday, but it was an unusual front coming in from the east. Normally we get it from the west or north west.

Gramma Camp – Tuesday

 In the early morning, Grampa went walkies. I did not. About 9:30 I checked on the girls. They were stirring. There was breakfast, reading, and some artwork. An overcast day all day. 

Isabelle did Dazzle Dotz. Jos was on the back deck sketching. 

     "It looks dark, Jos!" 

     "Just sprinkly!"

They went shopping with grampa. There was NO ground beef for meatloaf at the store, or bacon, only ground pork. Poor Grampa went back into town to the butcher and brought home both.

While they were occupied, I worked on some weeds. Also, the pond pump, which was working after it cooled off. It must have overheated.

 I have lost the top of the protective box (on the right in the photo, below), however, in the bottom of the mud and dead leaves in the pond. I fetched a towel, lay on my stomach, and fished around in the bottom. I couldn't find it. I was using a trailcam buckle to keep it together and I should have kept using it! I will look for it later.

I decided to pull out the fridges and clean them. Having cleaned the top, then the sides. It was a bit of how one thing leads to another. You know how that goes. I ended up having to clean behind them.

Gramma's famous meatloaf was had for dinner, with fruit pies for dessert. This was followed by running the dishwasher, and the end of Ghostbusters, and two young ladies had showers!

We had lots of great chats about school, Isabelle goes into gr. 7, and Josephine gr. 10. 

Gramma Camp – Monday

Up at 5:30, it was getting light. What can I do?! I was up. I put out the garbage and there was a beautiful fog. You can feel the forest inhaling the moisture and expanding in relief.

The moisture was most welcome.

Grampa went back to bed for a nap at 9 a.m. I toddled downstairs to open curtains and wake up the girls.

Cinnamon was lobbying to go out. I ignored him. The cats played tag.

Grampa shopped, now that we had a menu plan. Josephine wrote it out on the chalkboard. Izzy plugged her ears, as the sound cut to her very soul!

We cleaned out my 'office,' which is truly a storage room. There was loot to find. They ripped the pages out of old manuals I'd had from teaching to put into recycle. A couple of binders with tabs, paper, etc. They found harmonicas that belonged to their great-grampa. It was a great morning project and I appreciated their help.

I had an old micro cassette recorder. Josephine wanted it. We found new batteries. On the tape, was a vocal lesson I'd taken in 1986-ish. We listened to that awhile. It was when I was singing with the Ottawa Choral Society. I'd had several lessons with a private vocal teacher. I had totally forgotten it. It took some time to explain how the mini cassette recorder worked, and that they could reverse it and tape on the other side. They made up a radio show on the spot. 

Then, we took a break and reading was called for during the rain. Yes, MORE rain!!!!

Paper Wasp Nest

Having posted a photo on our photostream, they asked about it. I showed the girls the wasp nest. It is impressive. I noticed it on Sunday, as the branched bounced up and down in the wind!

I took three videos of the nest. Here is the first. Depending upon the positioning of the sun, it's easier to see it in the afternoon. Paper wasps 2 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo:

Leftover pizza and peaches for lunch. 

Dinner was chickenburgers. The girls made a salad for us. 

AFter dinner we tried Ghostbusters: Afterlife, but didn't finish it. That will be for Tuesday after dinner. 

Pond Pump Update:

I had a dumb issue with the pump. I lost the top after I'd cleaned it. I figured it would just run on its own. I was wrong. It's burned itself out. I'll have to come up with plan F. It's dead as a doornail. Happily, with the rainfall, and the re-repaired eavestrough, the fresh water filled up the pond and added oxygen.

pond pump from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo

New pond pump

 Things are motoring on this summer. We are half done. The weeds are merciless. It's hot and dry. I've been watering gardens, which I don't like to do with the well water. I need some rain to refill the goldsifh pond, which is fed by the water barrels. 

The goldfish pond pump broke. What a pain. I know, in the grand scheme of things it is trite, but the fishies should have some oxygen. Percy swims like a piranha around the pond. 

I found myself a pump online, at 28% off. I don't like Amazon. You never know where the product is coming from. I usually try to go to a local store after I find what I want, if I can. This isn't true of pond or goldfish supplies. They are hard to find here. 

 I was pretty dumb, though. They seldom have the exact specs for these things. I should have learned to inspect the photos more closely. This is a 1/2" outflow. Of course, they are primarily in Imperial measurements. The important part was the speed and power of the pump. This one said 335 gallons per hour (GPH), which I thought adequate. The pond must have about 300 gallons.

As I ordered it, they suggest this nozzle kit. You know, 'buy it with ____ product.' It seemed it would fit. Except if you look above at the outflow, it is threaded. Below, the smallest connector would be right, except it is not threaded. The instructions said they would fit. While it is not threaded, you wedge it on. 

In hindsight, this set looks OK, but even so, the 1/2" threading = 1.2 cm. I just didn't know.

This what I ended up with. It was a puzzle. It was so hot, I was sitting on the step sweating buckets trying to assemble it. 

The whole thing sits in this cage. It protects it, and ensure it sits upright.

I tried a different nozzle, and this was the result. I went back to the other nozzle. You should have seen me on my stomach, on a rock on far side of the pond, trying to reach it.

The problem is it clogs up with debris and I have to haul it out and rinse it off every couple of days, if not daily. Wait a minute. I'm retired. What else do I have to do? Weed? Yes. This is what I went with. After a couple of days, the height of the spray is cut in half. I have to haul it out and clean it with the hose.

new pond pump from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I cut some Tiger Lilies, for the back deck. You'll have to imagine, again, the female hummingbird who slipped between the railing, and slid behind the vase to feed. I dared not move! I've lots of photos of them. I just listened to her lovely wingbeat in awe of nature. 

Out front: my rose finally bloomed again.

Pond Pump Update:

I had a dumb issue with the pump. I lost the top after I'd cleaned it. I figured it would just run on its own. 

pond pump from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.