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Pond muck and Carnaval beads

Jonna — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:00:28 +0000

Let’s see… it is Carnaval so things are hopping with parties, parades, music, traffic and crowds. I got stuck in one of the worst traffic jams I’ve ever seen here in Mérida last Friday, and I wasn’t even in the Centro. I was out in Colonia Mexico trying to get back home on Circuito and it was not moving at all. I think the whole city was out there trying to avoid the center just like I was and we were all sitting in our cars cursing. Eventually, I put in my earbuds, turned on Johnny Mathis on my iphone and just relaxed. When I finally got back downtown there was this strange vacuum, no cars, no traffic, the Centro was holding its breath waiting for the party to start.

Getting this overgrown papyrus out was not easy.

I’m feeling much better, back to normal. As proof, I got in the outside pond on Sunday and tore it apart. Mimi and I haven’t really done this for a couple of years and it was needed. The papyrus had jumped its pot and was taking over half the pond, another plant had done the same, a bulb was out in one of the underwater lights and thus we had to drain the pond down to about a foot in depth to change the bulb. We are not done. I didn’t have any dirt to repot with nor a new bulb so we got everything pulled out and chopped up but nothing else. Mimi is considering trying to vacuum the bottom. This is tough because there is no way to keep the baby mollies and guppies from getting sucked into the vacuum and it means spending a lot of time rescuing them from the tank. I know, they are just fish but we can’t just dump them.

Yay! It's out.

I’ve been spending a lot of time in the garden, cleaning up and moving things and rethinking what I want there. I’ve decided that I have to choose either a sunny garden or a shady one and it really is going to have to be shady. Which means I have to protect some plants in the summer when I do get full sun in parts of the garden. The other option is trying to keep things alive through the winter when the sun is just enough lower that the surrounding trees block it much of the day.

How it looked at the end of the day

I’m getting rid of the plants that really need full sun and I will be replacing them with those that are better suited to light shade. First to go were the Bird of Paradise. They were green and healthy but not blooming, I think they needed more sun to bloom. Sheila and a friend came and dug them out and they have a new home. I’m considering what to put in there. Perhaps giant ferns, or huge philodendrons or something smaller and more colorful.

Today I went out and paid the water bill ($11us for 2 months), the garbage bill (also $11us but for one year of 6 day a week pickup) and bought some soil. Now I’m waiting for Mimi to get home to tackle the pond again.

Stay tuned for a guest post from my friend Kathe, she took a drive to Río Lagartos with her dobie Josh. Great post and some wonderful pictures.

What’s blooming?

Jonna — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 22:30:05 +0000

My favorite hibiscus bloomed today. I’m so happy about that, it looks healthy and has been growing but hadn’t yet bloomed this year.

I spent most of the day mucking out the filter in the big pond. It’s a long, dirty job which thankfully we only need to do every couple of months. You can tell when it needs it because the output at the other end of the pond slows down to a trickle. I shut the pump pit off from the rest of the pond, pumped out most of the water, washed all the filter media, cleaned the pump, caught 3 mollies that had probably gone down to the bottom as babies and then gotten too big to get back up, vacuumed most of the silt off the bottom, saved another mollie that went into the vacuum, and then put it all back together… whew!

I also fed all the lilies and cut off the dead stuff. That means, I got IN the pond. We’ve had a cold snap here and today was the first day with sunshine and warmer temps. I know, I know. Cold for us meant it was in the low 20′sC (70′sF) during the day plus it was gray and overcast. While it was a lot warmer and sunny today, the pond water was still pretty chilly. So, now the waterfall is flowing again, the water is murky from all my mucking around and the fish are busy looking for something I might have dug up that they want to eat.

Mimi has been gone all week volunteering at the spay and neuter clinic. She leaves around 6am and gets back 12 to 14 hours later. We also have 2 other volunteers staying here from the pacific northwest. They stayed here last year as well for this clinic and I’m really glad they returned. They not only work this clinic but they organize one on Isla Holbox every year as well. I’m guessing Mimi will be volunteering at that one too this year. I strongly support these clinics but I can’t work at them. I tried it one year in Xcalak and I’m just not good with animals that are sick or suffering. Humans don’t bother me as much, I’m pretty immune to that from my job. It’s animals and of course children that are just too difficult. I’m retired, I don’t want to do it so I don’t. My support has to be financial not physical.

So, I’ve been getting a lot done since I’m alone and just a little bored. I paid the property taxes yesterday. It took me about 15 minutes and that included parking. I got a 20.05% discount for paying in January so my total was $914 pesos for the year. That comes to about $75us at today’s rate. In addition I have to pay my fideicomiso fee to the bank and that is $400us. Even with that, my annual cost for owning this home is such a tiny fraction of what it would cost in California that it’s ridiculous. There is something very secure and wonderful about owning your home outright and having such low annual costs.

I got the gas tank on the roof filled last night, they can only bring the truck into the centro at night. He said he’d be here at 9pm and was only an hour late. It took 353 liters at $5.69 a liter for a total of $2008 pesos, that equals 47¢ a liter and a total of $167us. We fill our tank less than twice a year, and that is for all of our home gas use – dryer, oven, stove tops, water heater. I’m doing better on the electricity and once I get that down to a more reasonable amount, life will be really sweet. Right now we’re paying about $160us a month for electric, but I’m slowly reducing that by changing bulbs and replacing pumps. Oh, water is pretty negligible too, I think it was about $20us for 2 months on the last bill. I make up for some of these cheap expenses with the tech stuff, multiple cell phones, high speed internet, and TV. It’s only slightly more than in the US for those though, still a bargain. It’s a good life.

some updates

Jonna — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 06:57:47 +0000

Stuck between a rock wall and bamboo

The Great Wall of Tita is a success! She has gone up her usual way several times but she can’t get beyond the spot where the bamboo fencing starts.

She’s trapped in the yard and we are very happy about it. We can now leave the doors open with only the screen and she can go in and out but not up. She’s safe and that means everything. A big plus is that the dogs don’t notice the feral cats walking behind the bamboo very often so they don’t race back there and bark as much. We also enjoy greater privacy in the yard and the pool, the growing bamboo plus the bamboo fence addition have blocked the view from the hotel on the block behind us.

Now, she spends a lot of time sitting and staring up at the wall. I think she is watching lizards or maybe feral cats or maybe she is plotting her newest escape attempt.

She saw something up there that I couldn't see

The bananas and ginger are growing well and I’m getting the line of sight separation I wanted from the terrace to the back of the yard. No blooms, but I have lots of growth.

lots of green

No pictures, but Mimi and I went to a lumber store that our friend Terrence recommended today. We bought (2) 2″x8″x3 meter boards of Zapote to support the roof pond. The guys at the lumber store were really nice and steered me to zapote as a cheaper hardwood, more durable outside and from Mexico and not imported. Turns out much of the hardwood here is actually imported from Peru. It grows here but it is protected, good for Mexico but sad for Peru. They delivered it, hauled it up to the roof and then lifted the pond up onto it. I did tip them $50 pesos each, total cost for both boards with tax, delivery and tip was $57.42us. I was able to really fill the pond, it is level and off the roof. We need to add some roof paint to the area that the kiddy pool used to be and we might put some on the outside of the pond tank as well. I’ve been checking the water temps and even with the level really low it has stayed under 90°F. This project is a success too!

Plus, I will leave you with one last crime photo. This upstanding young man used the weapon in the picture to break and enter a pawn shop. He made so much noise that the geriatric guard came and caught him. I am hooked on these daily crime stories in the Diario, this is the REAL crime in Mexico!*

*Not really true. There are major problems in this country I’ve come to love, it just isn’t here in Yucatán. While I despair that my Spanish is going nowhere, I realized the other night that I understand too much of the news to enjoy watching it. I stopped watching US news a while back for the same reason, it’s depressing. What is on the national news here is not all of it either, one of the real tragedies is the heavy intimidation of journalists. They are murdered at an alarming rate and obviously that has an effect on what is reported.

do you hide ponds? you’re an addict.

Jonna — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 21:45:28 +0000

I have a bit of an addiction to ponds, fish and water plants. I know I’ve posted pictures of the hall pond, the garden pond and maybe even the little Betta pond, but have I mentioned that I also have a big, ugly, plastic, kiddy pond on the roof? Yea, I do. It has plants and fish that I want to propagate or that I don’t have room for in the other ponds.

cute, eh?

I bought the kiddy pool over in Playa del Carmen one time when I saw it on sale in Soriana. I didn’t have any measurements from the roof with me and I just thought it would fit. Well, not so much. It ended up overlapping the concrete beams and kind of draping over the sides. Every morning I looked out there to see if it was still holding water, I was afraid that the combination of bad seating, full tropical sun, and windy downpours would collapse it. Plus, did I mention it was really ugly? I put a laundry basket, home made filter in it which added to the charm.

So, look what arrived day before yesterday.

Mimi measuring to see if it will fit through the roof door

Luckily, Mimi figured out it would fit through the roof door so they didn’t have to hoist it up from the street with ropes. That would have been a sight. Instead, they managed to haul it through the house, up the stairs, through our bedroom, past the laundry and onto the roof.

luckily, it's not really heavy

Gabi laughs as it comes through the bedroom

So, yesterday Mimi and I spent many hot hours, bent over with a net, in full sun on a white roof, catching teeny little Molly fry and moving them to the new pond. We both have a pretty good base tan but both of us have a bit of a sunburn today.

the Molly hunt

By the time we had walked around a bit and pulled out the plants, the gunk on the bottom of the plastic pond was pretty stirred up. It didn’t help us find the fish.

tiny fish in green muck

Mollies in their new home

So, now I have nice new pond on the roof. It has less surface area than the old one but it is deeper. It takes up a lot less room and isn’t as big an eyesore. We’re going to wash out the plastic pond and take it to Gabi’s house for the kids to cool off in. I’m afraid if it stays here, I’ll fill it with water again and add more plants.

pond proud

Jonna — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:31:13 +0000

Finally! The first bloom from a night blooming lily. I’ve had 2 other night blooming lilies but they both died, not sure why they just never grew much and then disappeared. This one was given to me by a local ponder Francisco and I am thrilled with the huge 6″ bloom.

almost ready to bloom

First the anticipation, I spotted the bud when it was just emerging and watched it for over a week as it got closer to the surface. Then, for 2 days it kept growing above the water. We almost missed the bloom because it didn’t open until late that first night, after 10pm. The next 2 nights though it opened after sunset and stayed open until 10 or 11 the next morning.

Isn’t it beautiful?

Three blooms open this morning, it was overcast and the nightbloomer stayed open until after the day bloomers had opened.

Water lilies and Mollies

Jonna — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 02:02:25 +0000

Foxfire

The outside pond is starting to come together as well. The water is clear as gin – I love that phrase – and the lilies are blooming. I’ve identified one positively, which is the one I most wanted so that’s cool. It’s called Foxfire and was developed by an online friend Craig Presnell. How the lilies got to me is through another water lily aficionado who was instrumental in developing the Aquaparque – Mérida’s incredible public water garden. He has ponds of his own here and sold me 5 of Craig’s lilies. They weren’t all tagged correctly though, in fact they had no tags at all but he said he thought he knew which ones he pulled up for me. All his lilies came from Craig so I knew I’d figure it out when they bloomed.

probably Manassas

I’m still waiting for confirmation but I think this is another of Craig’s hybrids called Manassas. I am waiting for the third lily to bloom so I can send Craig the pictures and be certain. That third lily could be another favorite of mine although not one of Craig’s, there is a bud rising now so I don’t have long to wait.

Water Hyacinth

I’ve also had one of the hyacinth’s bloom, they are a reviled water weed in some places and a valuable plant for cleaning water in others. Almost forgotten at times is how beautifully they bloom. They are a floater, with trailing roots in the water that can absorb and detoxify even heavy metals. In a pond, they take up a lot of the organic waste and keep the water clear. The fish like to eat the roots as well and I had problems in the beginning keeping them alive. I think most of that was the elevated PH from the curing concrete. The lilies are doing better, the hyacinths and the cannas in the pond as well.

lily pond

I had a vision of this pond as mainly a water garden with small colorful fish darting among the lily pads. It’s coming together, it’s not there yet but then when you are hooked on gardening or ponds you rarely feel they are finished – that’s why it is an endlessly fascinating hobby.

Duque or Duke Mollies

The Mollies are still numerous but I have added 5 small and 1 more large Angel Fish to the pond, there are now 4 large adults and 5 younger and smaller. Hopefully I will achieve a balance and the Angels will only eat enough of the Mollies to keep the population down without decimating them. My bet is that the Mollies breed faster than the Angel’s eat. The Angel’s only eat the very tiny fry so the adults pretty much ignore them, they aren’t a threat. I might even get some baby Angel fish, two of them have paired off but I haven’t seen any breeding activity. I can’t take a good picture of those Angel’s for anything. They are paranoid and shy and you have to catch them from the side or they disappear they are so narrow.

I do get out and about and I’ve got some ideas for posts that aren’t just gardens and ponds. Plus, we’re going over to Akumal this weekend. Mimi is working at the annual free spay and neuter clinic. So, more pics of the beach and the Caribbean.

returning from our unscheduled break

Jonna — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 06:50:06 +0000

life in the fast lane

Sometimes life just gets in the way of a good internet addiction. Or, the blogging juices dry up. Or, anything you might want to write about you figure you probably shouldn’t. I’ve had all of those things going this past two weeks.

I’ve also been really busy. I’m doing a lot of things I enjoy, working on the ponds, walking around the mercado, hanging out with friends. Nothing too spectacular but interesting to me, I just wasn’t sure they would be all that interesting to you.

Once a couple of days go by, it is really hard to start again. I’ve been here before. I know that the answer is to just write something, anything, and then go on from there. Voila!

lily

getting better every day

Jonna — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:38:29 +0000

Mushroom

Look what I found growing in a pot of palms after the rains. It was so delicate and beautiful, it lasted only part of a day and then almost dissolved.

I’m so enthralled by my outside pond because we can now see the bottom clearly. What a change. I spend hours out there staring at the fish now, it’s no longer kitty TV but my TV as well.

I even got a picture of one of the elusive Plecos. Theresa gave me two and I haven’t seen them at all since I released them into the murk sometime in March. I still don’t know if there are two as I haven’t seen them together. Still, it’s a thrill to see this one. I’d forgotten that he is tan and a yellow/gold color with a pattern like a turtle shell. Really beautiful.

Taking pictures in the pond is still difficult, it isn’t totally clear and there is a lot of reflected light. I have a polarized lens and that helps a little although it adds odd artifacts on the edge of the photo.

Take a look though, the elusive pleco.

Pleco

I’ve been trying to take a picture of the Angel fish as well. They are more difficult because you can’t take a picture from above, they are too thin, from the side is the only way they show up. They are also very shy and seem to sense when I am focusing on them.

The inside pond is looking good as well, we could put water in it next week. I’m back to being pond obsessed, Mimi says every time she came to look for me today I was hunched over the pond.

Outside pond from above