Wow!  My thin-skinned Georgia butt is freezing right off!  Oh well, never had much of one anyway... 

I forced myself out of bed this morning and, while making my first Coke Zero of the day, looked out my kitchen window and noticed my largest koi (named RinFinFin) motionless, looking as if he was suspended in mid air underneath a thin coating of ice.  It's not often we have weather this cold in Georgia and rarely does it get cold enough for a long enough time to freeze the surface of the pond.  With the weatherman predicting a low of 4 degrees on Monday I'm a little afraid that I haven't done enough to ensure my fish are going to be safe. 

This summer I had a tragedy befall the koi pond in my back yard.  I kept noticing fish missing.  I began with 40-something large koi (some 3 feet long).  I found one lying dead on the side with a huge bite taken out of his side.  Hmmmm.  Wasn't sure what kind of animal had a mouth that big.  Then I got the notice in my mailbox from the City of Dahlonega.  There was a black bear roaming free on Crown Mountain.  Yikes!  That's my mountain!  Then it hit me.  The bear had to be the predator of my koi.  I never was able to catch him in the act but every time I started counting my koi I was missing another one or two.  It was so sad! I lost my favorite, Smokey Jo, a 20 lb. GinRin Suragoi, and her daughter, a beautiful GinRin Ochiba.  I finally put a halt to the nishikigoi smorgasbord by lowering the water down a couple of feet so the bear couldn't simply fish off the top.  My koi were so friendly they ate out of my hand so all a bear had to do was stand beside the pond with a bucket of food and they'd come right up to him.

Almost immediately after I lowered the water the pond began leaking.  My pond is 5 feet deep.  I lowered it by 2 feet.  Overnight it was down another foot.  I am pretty sure he must have gone swimming and clawed the sides of the pond.  I tried to find the leak with no luck.  I was able to rule out leaking from the plumbing because it still lost water when I turned off the circulation.  I finally gave up and allowed it to leak down until it stopped.  There was nothing else I could do!  My 5 foot deep koi pond is now only 1 foot deep and I only have 5 koi left. 

So that brings me to the problem of ice forming on the top of my pond.  I'm worried my poor fishes will freeze.  The pond is too big for a de-icer to be affective and there is no possible way to heat the water so I am crossing my fingers that we'll have a normal Georgia cold snap.  Georgia natives know all too well how we can have snow one day then a balmy 78 degrees the next.  My solution for the long term is to, sadly, find homes for the few koi that are left and fill in the pond.  Let me know if any of you would like one of them but a warning - they are big fish and will not fit in a pond less than 5000 gallons... 

Once I tearfully tear down the beautiful pond that my late husband built I'll have to be content to get my "koi fix" at the store.  The ones we have for sale are as friendly as mine at home, giving you kisses when you stick your fingers into the water.  And because they are in an inside tank there's no way a black bear can get to them.

For those of you who have ponds and would like more information on how to winterize it, here's a link to an article on our website: http://www.ponddoc.com/Seasonal_Pond_Care.html. 

Clearing the Clutter

The more stuff you have the more stuff you have to maintain.  I've recently come to the realization that I want less maintenance, thus less stuff in my life.  I want to enjoy my life, not have my stuff dictate what I do with my time.  I decided what is important to me and those things I want to keep.  I love my car (It's a 6-speed Z4 sDrive 35i with twin turbos - fast and fun!).  I love my bikes - and by "bikes" I'm talking about motorcycles.  There's nothing in this world that competes with the feeling I get when I'm riding.  As my friend, Shannon Spry, will attest, I become a free bird when I get on them.  I love my guns and will fight to the death for my right to carry them.  I love my bed.  It's the most comfortable bed in the world and no - you can't try it out!  I love to cook and I love growing fresh herbs on the deck.  I love my close circle of friends.

There are other things that I like but these are the things I don't want to do without.  Having decided what I want to keep and knowing what I need to have to live, I now can decide what I want to toss out. 

I've started cleaning and clearing out closets and pantries but nothing has been as rewarding as when I tackled my laundry room.  For months I've been stressing over the light in my laundry room.  It stopped working and, because I've had other priorities, I have been doing my laundry in the dark.  Instead of waiting around to finally get an electrician in, I took the little lamp off my desk and sat it on the dryer.  Plugged it in and let there be light!!  My whole life changed at that very moment of enlightenment.  I couldn't wait to do a load of laundry and washed those nasty cleaning rags I'd been putting off for so long.  I was on a roll!  I cleaned the room, even cleaned the floors and took my iron and ironing board out of retirement arranging them so I could easily use them when necessary.  I couldn't wait to change my sheets so I could iron my pillow cases!  I had to stop at ironing the sheets though because my best friend in the whole wide world, Susan Freeman, brought me to my senses by telling me I was being obsessive.  Susan has a way of reeling me in when I get too far out in the lake. 

 

I was surprised that something as simple as arranging my laundry room could bring me such joy.

There is another kind of clutter that has nothing to do with stuff and that's what's in your mind.  I've never been one to worry all the time but I do have a history of over-thinking things.  For months I slept with one eye open because I never knew when Cecil was going to fall or need something.  January 26th will be three years since he died and I still can't break the habit.  It's not unusual for me to go the whole night without sleeping and, when I do sleep, it's not for long unless it's drug-induced.  At 3:00 in the morning I'll be wide awake "thinking".  I've yet to figure a way to clear the clutter out of my head!  I sure could use some help with that!

My next project is to take all the stuff that I'm clearing out of closets and junk rooms, all the stuff that I don't need or care much about and take it all to the store and have a big winter yard sale.  This is an idea I came up with during one of those sleepless nights.  I think it will kill two birds with one stone.  I'll clear out the clutter while hopefully bringing new customers into the store during winter while we are out of season.  I'll have some really cool stuff to sell.  Guitars, amplifiers, furniture, flower vases, home decor items and linens.  Stay tuned.  I'll be announcing the sale soon.