My friend Jim sent this picture. Taken at our get together. We were at about 96% I was told.
At the beginning of the eclipse the bird garden became relatively quite and the pond fish went into the hidey spots. After the eclipse the birds sang again and the goldfish reappeared looking for attention. It was interesting to watch and hear the reaction. The only exception was a loan Downey woodpecker who continued to peck at fat oblivious to it all.
Tuesday I felt a need to get involved with the tree guy. He was avoiding the three main trees that led to our agreement, namely one over the garage, a second over the drive, and a third over both. A maple and two ash. They also threatened the power line into the house. I spent most of the day assisting there removal which although heavy labor was uneventful, thankfully. This led to a Wednesday where my infirmaries were painfully apparent. Did do water changes and a gravel vacuum though.
It is now pouring rain and I am getting behind on the pond improvements. I am very upset with the tree guy because he cost me a perfect day and had I wanted to do tree removal I would not have gifted him some rather valuable trees. I think he is now back on course.
The 20 has now tested two days at 0=0 Ammonia and Nitrites. Nitrates are at 5 so I am thinking the tank can now accept the month-old guppies, somewhere north of 20 of them, all growing nicely. Going to do this tomorrow after a fifty percent water change in the morning. Their current 10 gallon will hopefully be ready to accept a herd of Celestial Danios on Saturday or Sunday, whichever day has miserable weather. The not so LFS has them in stock as does a private seller. I believe a solid relationship with a reputable fish place is important so will likely purchase from it. Not entirely sure yet.
Anyway another day of pouring rain in front of me so not much can be accomplished short of some puttering. The dining room soon to be a fish room has been taken as far as reasonable until the dry kiln calls to tell me the wood is ready. If the weather keeps up I will probably wind up building the cabinet frames as modules in my workshop so that is all I will need to do is the tops and facings. I do prefer building them in place though.
My heating guy is coming either today or tomorrow to discuss my fish room options for air conditioning and summer dehumidification. Because the room will not be fully functional this summer, I told him it will likely be a midwinter job, but I need to have an idea of cost. Between that and the floor I am busting the budget which is not something I normally do.
I think Linda and I have turned this into an expensive hobby, but we are loving it.