Pond fountain & salamander eggs?

Yesterday I turned on the fountain in our pond, to get some water circulation.

Before I could do that, I had to wade into the pond, as the fountain had fallen over, probably due to the ice. So I recently bought some cheap waders:

I was interested to find a couple of gelatinous blobs attached to the sides of the plastic pot that the pump sits in (to protect the intake from the pond silt). Googling images, I think these are salamander eggs. We know that our pond has salamanders, which we take as a good sign of a healthy pond ecosystem.

Here’s the righted pump; the water is murky from me stirring up the silt, but you can see one of the blobs on the left:

A view of the pond with the fountain running. It’s not a big fountain, just enough to get some water movement and aeration:

Gas holder & feed store supplies

Before I could mow I needed to get some gas (petrol for non-US readers) for the mowers. Securing the gas cans in the bed of the truck is always a bit tricky, so on a whim I whipped up a wooden holder for them, that contains them securely:

It’s attached to the bed both via a bungee across the top, and a hook directly onto an attachment ring, so it won’t slide around:

I also did my monthly run to the local feed store (15 minutes away; the closest shops to home), where I got several bags of chicken feed, bird seed, and peanuts for the jays:

New field trees

Today we added a few more trees on the north border of our field.

Six new Leyland Cypress trees to replace existing ones that didn’t survive, and fill in some gaps:

Plus a couple of larger specimen trees:

A Tulip tree:

And a Dawn Redwood tree:

We also did some bondage and fencing on the weeping willow tree near the pond, that deer had pushed over:

Building a cat shelter: sliding maintenance door

I’ve decided to slow down work on the new cat house, as I need to spend more time on consulting and Dejal apps, and this isn’t urgent, since the cats already have a heated shelter and raccoon-proof feeder. But I am still keen to get this finished, and am enjoying working on it, so will do at least a few hours on it each weekend.

Yesterday I added wheels to the maintenance door; the whole front of the shelter portion of the structure. As mentioned in my previous post, I was originally going to have it swing open, but decided to make it slide instead, for weight reasons. So I got some little casters to make it slide more easily, and cut notches out of the bottom for them:

Here’s a closer view; you can also see the cat door temporarily in place (to check the fit):

I added a strip of plywood to hide the casters:

I also added a thin board to the back of the deck, to act as a track for the casters (and make the door the right height):

Here’s the door in place, opened:

And closed:

That’s basically it for this time. My next priority is a second beehive stand (for the two new hives we’ll be adding), and a rail for this door to slide on when open. Then probably the facades and trim. I mentioned last time that I was thinking about doing roofing next, but I think it’d be better to do that after the walls are painted. (I was going to do it before the facades due to the flashing at the back of them, but I realized I can build that as another separate piece, so can be lifted off for roofing.)

With my slower pace, I probably won’t finish this project until sometime in May, but that’s fine.

Building a cat shelter: roof & trim

I did some more work on the new cat house over the weekend, building the roof and some of the trim.

Firstly I made framing for the insulated ceiling of the shelter part:

And added three layers of the half-inch insulation foam. Heat rises, so I thought having thicker insulation in the ceiling made sense (and I bought more than I needed, so have plenty spare):

This ceiling was then attached to a half inch plywood panel, that will form the roof (the cutouts are for wires):

Here’s the roof installed, with some trim along the edge. Like the floor, the roof is not attached to the walls yet, so I can move the structure to the final destination in separate pieces; they will be screwed together there:

A view inside the shelter portion, with the ceiling in place:

I added a board above the top of the front wall, which will form the base of the front façade:

And started to add some trim on the corners etc. I also changed my mind on the maintenance door; as you know, the entire front of the shelter portion opens; I was going to have it swing open, hinged on the left, but decided that it’s too heavy for that to work well, so will make it slide to the left instead. It won’t be opened often (probably only a couple of times a year, to add or remove the heated beds, and close or open the vent covers), but I still want it to be fairly easy to open:

I added trim around the awnings; I bought metal drip strip for them, along with the roof, but I haven’t decided if I’ll actually use it on the awnings, since I worry about sharp edges close to the cats. I’ll decide that when I’m ready to do the roofing shingles. If I don’t, the trim will make the edge look nice; if I do, the trim will provide the right height backing for it:

More trim around the side door and corners; you can also see the underside of the roof overhang:

I’ve run out of 1×2 wood, and am ready for some other extra bits, so I’ll make a run to Home Depot later in the week. Next weekend I currently plan to do the roofing (drip strip, paper, and shingles). And perhaps more trim and/or the façades, if I have time.

More snow

Yesterday it snowed pretty much all day, though didn’t start sticking until evening.

Firstly, here are some pictures of the cat shelter from the last couple of days:

Cozy inside:

A nice picture of Portabella emerging from the shelter:

On to today; some interesting light early:

Rory following a cat (or bunny) path:

The pond is frozen again (it did mostly defrost yesterday):

Reverse view from the pond deck:

That interesting light again over the apple trees:

A cat track in the snow:

The cat shelter; the camera was buried again, and the deck steps look more like a ramp:

The fountain garden (looking from the back deck):

I measured about 7″ of new snow, on top of 2″ remaining from the previous snowfall a couple of days ago:

A bunch of icicles off the roof:

Several inches of snow

Yesterday was predicted to have 2 to 5 inches of snow, but nothing much eventuated during the day:

However, in the evening it picked up a bit:

And continued overnight, culminating in almost 8 inches this morning:

The camera that watches the front of the cat shelter was buried:

Another angle; the front of the cat shelter is in the middle of the photo:

The chickens were not impressed:

And once again the chicken run roof netting didn’t fare too well:

We took Rory out for a walk in the snow; she loved it. Here we’re checking on the beehives; her one chance to get so close to them:

The chicken coop:

Frozen pond:

View of the pond arbor, brown gazebo, and trees:

Snow on a tree near the white gazebo:

Our new apple trees might be regretting coming here:

Rory really loved scampering in the snow:

Bird feeders:

The cat shelter again:

Building a cat shelter: walls & platforms

I’ve done a bit more on the new cat house. I previously worked on the walls of the shelter part, and this weekend continued that with the walls of the feeder section, plus the feeder awning and platforms for both sides.

Here’s the back of the feeder front wall, under construction:

In place:

Again, with a bracket for the shelf:

Building the feeder side door:

The side door in place:

Building the feeder awning:

The awning installed (and the shelter door removed):

Making the shelter platform, before cutting out the center part; the cutouts in the corners are for wires from the heating pads:

And the feeder shelf:

The underside of the shelter platform, after cutting out the center and adding edging and bracing:

And in place:

Finally, trying the positioning of the food dispenser, looking through the front window. It’ll sit on a drawer, making it easier to fill, and dispense into a tube that leads to the food dish below:

Stay tuned for more; next weekend I plan to build the roof!