Its a gorgeous day! There is a sweet , warm breeze blowing , the sun is shining, birds are everywhere and singing their dear songs, leaves are bursting out, Lilacs are about to join the Forsythias in bloom and over all its just wonderful.
The fish in the pond are even merry as the glide around gracefully in the crystal clear water (yup UV filter works wonders!) The matriarch is over 14 inches long now and oversees her domain with a certain genteel manner. Her long veil tail and fins look angelic in the water.
I need new water lilies. I had to remove the old cat tails. They simply became overwhelming and at 15 ft tall and in a huge planter that took 2 big men to lug out for me.. I think it was high time. Tall water grasses are very invasive and will take over after a while, leaving their pots and roots expanding over the side searching for nutrients and sand to root in.
I want lots of parrot feather this year, some exotic lilies too.. day and night bloomers I think.
The front pond needs a water change before fish are introduced ..just a few from the large pond and then water lilies in blues and whites and tons of parrot feather to give a graceful look.

(photo: Parrot feather in small pond.)

I still need to plant plenty of moss around its edges too. This pond is raised unlike the other one which is in the ground and natural looking.

If you don't have room for a pond outside, put one inside the house.
You can make a small one from a planter and just a small pump to aerate the water.
You can put a waterlily in it and some fish if you like.
The sound of the water is good for the soul and the ions from the water are good for depression and health!

You can also make a small "spring". Simply get a plastic bucket..not too deep, a tiny pond pump.. they cost around 10-15 dollars.. some wide metal meshing called hardware cloth and you have the makings.

bury the bucket in the ground. now place the small pump inside .. it should come with a long tube so that the water can splash above the little "spring".
place it in the bottom, use a flat rock to elevate it if you need to. now fill it with water.
now take the metal mesh and place it over the top of the bucket which is buried in the ground. You will have to make a hole in it for a short piece of the tube to poke through a little.
Now, cover the mesh with small pebbles and rock in a pretty fashion..and make it look as if its part of the landscape. Now when you turn on your *spring* it will look as if water is bubbling up out of the ground. The water will bubble up, and splash down thru the stones and mesh into the bucket to be recycled up again.

Here is a version.. this one has a large fountaining effect..but you can adjust the flow so its not so huge. If its a simple little bubbling effect birds and small animals will come to drink and you will love watching them.

Til next time I leave you with a smile.

It's Raining , It's Pouring

It absolutely poured down rain very early this morning. You know, that kind of really loud rain that thunders down on everything? Wow, what a storm.
I have seen worse by far.
In 1991 we went through the "Perfect Storm" of movie fame. Of course,we didn't know that at the time, just that it was a very bad nor'easter. Half the island here was torn off , beaches erroded badly and people had a lot of flood damage at that time. My little cottage was spared any damage , Thank God. He watches over me and I thank him for that.

It's a perfect day for hot tea though and somehow having a cup of hot tea is more soothing than so many other things. There is something nice about cuddling up on a very dark , rainy day with Agatha Christie and hot tea...... Well, its Friday and not one of the reading days. I have to prepare for tomorrow. I am making a nice beef stew which will simmer all night in the crock pot and be tender and luscious tomorrow! Since tomorrow will also be rainy I think the stew will be perfect too.

This little animation is what I would rather be doing today. But.. its not to be what with the weather.
My back is giving me problems lately so tending my little garden and my ponds is out of the question also. I could barely walk this morning. As it is I am sitting here with heat on my back while I write. I hope this spell clears up quickly it's draining when it goes on so long. I had trouble getting out of bed and sitting in my chair here was not easy. The heat seems to be helping though.
I will have to write about my ponds and post some photos once I get going again.
Have a good day, stay dry and til next time I leave you with a smile.

Making Hyperlinks

This first one below is how to insert the name you wish to appear in a hyper link. Just replace name you want here with name or phrase you would like to use.

This one below is how to make a hyperlink that will open in a seperate window! This can be useful is you do not wish to take the reader off your homepage. If you wish, remove the center parts. This is just how I make them appear in my "links" area on my other blog.

I took this link below directly off there and this is how it appears in my template.


I hope this helps with making hyperlinks.

When Things Get Too Personal

I am up late. It is 3:15AM but I have some work to do on a painting that I don't wish to lose the inspiration for and also, well, I am hungry!
The voting opened on the JIB awards HERE. ( Go vote for Sultan Knish , Cosmic X and Creedmore)
Anyone can vote.
I was nominated for my LemonLimeMoon blog but under a category as a personal blog.
It is not a personal blog. It is a current events blog so obviously no one will vote for it since the category makes no sense and why waste a vote on a blog that just simply doesn't belong there , rather than use it on one that does?
Am I disappointed? Well in a way, but not about the votes or awards. Just that no one seemed to *get* what my blog was about.
Anyway, I turned the nomination down, but it seems they have not taken my name off the voting list.
Someone actually voted for me !! Its probably someone who never read the blog God love them. LOL.

til next time I leave you with a smile

My Real Age!

This is really pretty accurate Sigh.. I am just a big kid most times.
These little tests are kind of fun to take.

You Are 15 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Rainy Day Contemplation

April Showers bring May flowers and its been raining off and on for hours and there are indeed signs of flowers.
My forsythia is in bloom. Of course its a twig which I just planted last year and not much of a bush yet, but the Lilacs a friend gave me a few years back are ready to burst anytime now. Daffodils and some hyacinths are open too.
The little pond is coming along nicely. Its a nice size 5 ft by perhaps 4 across. Not the huge size of the original one but its a nice centerpiece for my little yard(which isnt so little). Its centered in a surround of building rocks so that its raised and I am planting around the filled in sides. My goal is a Japanese sort of look with a lot of moss and low spreading junipers.
I don't have my mothers green thumb really. I have photos of homes of her family members with hillsides covered in mountain pinks.. breathtaking!
Her father was a prize winning gardner also.

Today I am contemplating Lemon Lime Moon my mouthy blog. Originally it was a clean lined 2 columned blog using a wonderful template by Caz (whose template designs are the finest you could hope for. I maintain it to this day in that form under another name and am wondering if it would be nice to go back to that simple design. Lately I have used my own paintings as mastheads on Lemon. And for a long time now its been 3 columns but, I often wonder if the 3 column look can't get too circusy after a while, especially if you load up the sides with frou frou.
I intend to keep this blog as simple as I can.
This one is mainly for me to think things outloud and share a bit sometimes too.

I suppose the title is pretentious... contemplation should be of a more lofty sort,but, alas, its all I could come up with today.

I need to keep up this blog more.
See you again.