I need work

[AgentOrange]

I am in need of a silly project to get me off my ass.
What could be more silly than another bird water thing?
I have too many. I have 4 ponds and a branch plus some bird water bowls.

My CatBird house is tiny -- 10X6. There is no room for more, but WTH?
The guest chair goes unused 99% of the time.
8174

Today have been thinking on a 5' branch for inside here.
I have drawn up a nice one to build from scratch as then I have complete control of size.

I have run across some store bought things to mingle in, but I loose size control and must then adjust.

Not enough beer down today to decide. For me most of the fun is the planning, kinda like thinking on what I will cook tonight (thinking BLT with onion and cheese).

[AgentOrange]

I find time to sit in there most days as it is my favorite place in the world.

Started off today with Frank Sinatra as his tunes were in my head when I woke up I am a huge fan.
I am now playing Jon Anderson.

I have decent Gallo speakers out here plus a 12" sub. Mine are mounted to the roof and aimed at my head. I would upgrade, but with what?

8175

[Mike Kelly]

"I am in need of work". That's a quote you never hear these days. Projects and work keep you young. I have years of little projects I have been hoarding up on in my little shop building. Stuff I never have time to work on and finish, so why start now. 13 months from today I can retire if I'm still alive. I got over my pneumonia and all my other aliments a month or so ago and had felt the best i had felt in a couple of years and was even able to run a little on 3 different days. My Bride brought home Cousin COVID from school last week. She tested positive last Saturday and I tested positive the past Tuesday. We are taking all the vitamins and stuff recommend. I had already been taking a lot of supplements for the past two months since the pneumonia thing. It's kinda like the flu. I seem to be feeling better already. Bride is struggling a little. My employer is making me stay home for the next 10 days. They brought me a work computer and set it on my doorstep this morning. I guess I'll start tomorrow. Hadn't felt like doing a whole lot anyway. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll be even better. Got to work on my Bride and get her better now. My next immediate project is replacing a privacy fence. I've been holding off hoping lumber prices will go down. I was suppose to have done that last year. Forgot what my excuse was then.

[Marty Gass]

I don't have that issue. I have many little jobs that need to be done but I could not do because of my back being a train wreck. I hope to start on them mid September. When I start thinking about things I want to do I realize that I will loose interest 5 minutes later. It is the same when walking around a store full of cool stuff. I go to a Costco or a B Js and I could easily walk out with a truck load of stuff I want. By the time I am in my car I have a hard time thinking about any of it. I am already on to something else.

[AgentOrange]

Hadn't felt like doing a whole lot anyway.

If yall need me to bring over some chicken soup, just holler. :OBEY

[Mike Kelly]

You should have purchased stock in the Campbell's Soup Company this year. I have consumed many cans of their chicken noddle soup this year and I'm still consuming along with Premium Saltine soda crackers. I've lost my taste and smell now. I guess that has some advantages. I think I have turned the corner now, but my Bride is still struggling a little.

[AgentOrange]

Today have been thinking on a 5' branch for inside here.


Got my tub in. The interior is 48'' long, 13" wide, 10"deep. How many gallons is that?
Lets say 27gallons. That should be plenty.

I need enough to raise tadpoles in next year. More water is always better, but I am already exceeding my space here.

I need to get to HD in Taccoa next and buy a frame. I am thinking 2"X 12" boards. For a cap thinking thin 4" wide, will see what they have.

8189

[AgentOrange]

Hot as hades today.:Oh Hell
Yall can work vicariously through me today. I ain't a young man anymore. Any movement in heat gets my attention!


I got 1" boards and caped with 2". That gives me a 1" overhang on the inside. That saved me 2" in overall width which is 16 1/2".
I can live with that.
After some sawing and screwing, have a tight frame.

Here it is assembled:

8198

Now I have to paint, might put that off till tomorrow, but it would be nice to get one coat on today. I am going with green.

[AgentOrange]

Made myself paint. I hate to paint and I hate to dig.

My stain was labeled Pine Green. It is kinda bluish. I hope it drys more green. I may have to cover with a different color.

I ordered a 400gph Mag pump. Today after a week see Amazon has cancelled it. That may not be all bad. I have a few pumps in the shed. Most are too strong, some are too weak. One old pump I have not seen in years may work. It even has a small UV light. I suspect the UV no longer works, but if needed I could replace the UV tube in it. I don't need or want a lot of flow. I can slow the water down some, can't speed it up. The pump head will only be a couple feet.

[Marty Gass]

So this is a tadpole tank????

[AgentOrange]

So this is a tadpole tank????


'Tadpole Farm' .too funny

[AgentOrange]

Fed Ex lady just brought my waterfall:

8199


I knew it would be big, but best size I could find. It is going to to work great, might even lure a bird or three?
I can always move this to my deck fountain and bring that one here.

[Mike Kelly]

Looks very nice! I approve and will sign off just in case the County Inspector comes by. I just watched an old episode of "The Outer Limits" where Eddie Albert, his wife were trapped in an old farm house with it's owner out in the middle of nowhere after their car broke down. They were first trapped inside by tumble weeds (aliens), then by these large frogs, hundreds of them. Hope this project does not turn out to be a true episode of "The Outer Limits" where you are trapped inside and cannot escape because you are surrounded by large aggressive frogs. Season 2, Episode 6, "Cry of Silence" , Oct 24, 1964. Also stars June Havoc and Arthur Hunnicut.

[AgentOrange]

Looks very nice! I approve and will sign off just in case the County Inspector comes by. .

Ha ha. I am not on your level Mike. I did build the entire Catbird house this will reside in with help from my Beagle. It might stand another year, might collapse as no one signed off.

May the 'Tadpole Farm' prosper !!! :EXCITED

[Mike Kelly]

No doubt the "Tadpole Farm" will prosper. You need no one to sign off on your projects. They speak for themselves. The "Catbird house" will stand for years and years to come. Your birds will see to that. I've been to "Callaway Gardens" bird house many years ago. Your "Catbird House" has them beat by a long shot. They don't have music, cold beer, friendly birds or a front row seat for the birds to come and look at you. You have a very unique setup. I liked it! Birds like it also.

[Marty Gass]

When you find something that you really enjoy you should engage as often as you can.

While I will never build anything like this I am planning a major rehab of our little in ground store bought pond. I will be getting a nice load of the flat stone like it has around it now but do a better job of setting it all up. I can then put back the hose that ran a waterfall. The filter in the bottom of the pond pumps out a little spray shower and also can run around with a line for a waterfall. We have plants around this now including some small roses and other nice plants that are good cover for critters who drink from the pond. I also need to run a water line from the faucet manifold over to the pond so I can add water during dry spells. This will all be done on a Saturday. Once I have the rock the rest is easy.

I also have to have a plumber out to fix one of the faucets that popped a few years ago when it froze up. I had not gotten under the house to cut off the water. I also want them to add a cutoff up inside the house under a sink in the powder room there. Then I don't have to crawl halfway under my house to screw with the water shut off. I also have to start doing a better job of keeping my birdbath by the feeders cleaned out and filled with fresh water.

Deer like our yard and we see them every week or so. Sometimes they seem to hang around for a day or so. We have good safe cover when it rains and sometimes when it is raining there will be 5 or 6 up under the trees and azaleas. The Back hedge is about 15' tall at least and it hangs over the back fence and you can stand there in light rain and never feel a drop. The deer like that area.

[AgentOrange]

I aint done, but far enough along so you can see my plan. I think I will enjoy sitting on my porch with this.

8206

[Mike Kelly]

You have a Bird Sanctuary like no other. If I was a bird, that's where I'd hang out. Where will the tadpoles come from?

[AgentOrange]

Where will the tadpoles come from?


Good question. Do you know of any lakes in my area?

.too funny

[Mike Kelly]

There is a great big lake near you. Lake Hatwell near Taccoa. As a kid, the best place for us to find tadpoles was in our small pond or one of the many creeks that feed the pond. They came in all sizes. The big ones already had legs forming on them. We also caught crawfish out of these creeks. Small miracle today that none of us kids every got bitten by a cotton mouth snake. Seemed like the tadpoles I remembered growing up liked the old country ponds and creeks where we played. We caught them with a small minnow net. Good times as a kid. As long as I had a pocket knife, flashlight & a bicycle without a flat tire, I had no money, no problems, & no worries.

[AgentOrange]

I don't intend to add tadpoles till Spring. I do hope to soon add a few mosquitofish which are tiny things that eat skeeter larvae.

8207

Due to the lake and my ponds, lots of frogs are around. This year was especially good as to toads. Most have been eaten now, but there were many this year. Cats leave them be as they taste bad.

I hope to find tree frog tadpoles. Those can be some odd looking critters. I'll try later to find some photos. You can buy them on line. A hundred don't cost too much, but probably I will get them from the lake.

Every few years I order in Bullfrog tadpoles. I always have a few Bullfrogs in my ponds. They are kinda territorial, so most hop down to the lake after they are grown. It is funny, they tend to travel in a heavy rain. They give me a few tadpoles every year.
This Tadpole Farm is not for them. They do well in the big ponds. My cat Devil is a bullfrog hunter, but not very successful.

Look at these - $25 for one tadpole. I won't be getting these in.:eek-new:

8208

[AgentOrange]

There is a great big lake near you. Lake Hatwell near Taccoa. As a kid, the best place for us to find tadpoles was in our small pond or one of the many creeks that feed the pond. They came in all sizes. The big ones already had legs forming on them. We also caught crawfish out of these creeks. Small miracle today that of us kids every got bitten by a cotton mouth snake. Seemed like the tadpoles I remembered growing up liked the old country ponds and creeks where we played. We caught them with a small minnow net. Good times as a kid. As long as I had a pocket knife, flashlight & a bicycle without a flat tire, I had no money, no problems, & no worries.

I was the same. Catching frogs, tadpoles, snakes, and crawfish was a natural thing. I guess I have never lost my desire for that. I have continuously kept an aquarium since 1970, and yard ponds since 1995, so I am a self taught expert.

Where I grew up, there was the old nasty cotton mouth. Where were you raised?
Here at the lake we don't have them (yea!!). In SC they stay below the "fall line".
That makes me happy.

[Mike Kelly]

I grew up outside of Union Point, Ga. Cotton Mouths & Rattlesnakes were the two to be on the lookout for. We had plenty of tadpoles as we seemed to have creeks/streams everywhere. Hard to believe that in all the ponds we swam in as kids, we never got bitten by a cotton mouth. My Dad killed many cotton mouths around our small pond. We saw one coming out of the pond one day at the dam with a catfish half-way in his month and slithering in the marsh behind the pond. He got away as we did not have our 22 rifle with us that day. It was a big one. As Boy Scouts we always camped near a pond/small lake. Listening to the crickets and bullfrogs all night was a beautiful thing. At night we all had for light were cheap flashlights and usually one Coleman lantern. Usually fell asleep about 1:00 am. Cooked breakfast over an open fire. I still have my Boy Scout mess kit. After I got married, my Bride & I did some rough style camping with the very basics. Cheap flashlights & one Coleman lantern, canvas tent and sleeping bags. I cooked breakfast over the open fire. I got an iron grate I used to put the pots & pans on while cooking. Cooked the coffee in an old aluminum percolator. Still have the iron grate, but have not used in many years as Bride don't like to rough style anymore. I guess you would call us luxury campers now. I still always build a fire every night and usually first thing in the morning. I have a coleman gas stove, but still cook a lot in Dutch Ovens now. I purchased a Flat Top grill last year which I am beginning to learn how to cook different things on. Still working on getting the flat top seasoned. Once that is done will cook many things, including pancakes without sticking.

[AgentOrange]

Nebraska is up 6-2 over Illinois. I am watching on the porch.

I added some moss to my Tadpole Farm. It is looking better everyday. They sell this online for $8.99 for a small 6" piece. I have it growing for free in my shady yard.:watermelon:

I mixed up a mild Miracle Grow blue mix in a spray bottle to keep it happy.

You can grow this most any place. One way to start it if you don't have a yard full is:

Take a patch and mix it in a blender with a weak Miracle Grow mix. Then you can paint it where you want it. It likes shade and moisture.

8209

[Marty Gass]

Never saw a poisonous snake where I grew up.

I have lived in the charlotte area since late 1969 when I came for school. I see a copper head a few times a year but mostly black snakes and the little green snakes. We get toads and frogs around our pond a few times a year. They make all kinds of noise in the evening and as the sun goes down.

Every year, sometime after the first few weeks of the year we will hear the first sound that winter is starting to melt away. In the park there are a few marsh areas where frogs and or toads will make a tone of noise. They come out after a few warmer and sunny days. Sometimes they are so loud that we can't hear each other talk. It really lifts the spirits. This year we heard them before the end of January. Typically it is mid to late February as I recall. When they were out this year we heard some people talking as they walked past them and they were asking each other what that noise was. Must have been transplants from some northern concrete jungle.