It was about this time two years ago that I finished making our backyard pond. The fish have spent two winters in it, the first without any loses, and then this last winter we lost the koi and another fish. In turn we've (well, they've) added two dozen new fish and even more this year.

Above is a rough panorama of the pond and waterfall. Here's a pond panorama from two years ago. For reference the pond is about 8 foot wide by 13 feet long and 37 ZMUs deep.

I split the water lily and it has really taken off. The main trouble this year is string algae. All of the rain this year has totally screwed up the PH but algae seems to totally dig on acid rain. Every week or two you can find me in the pond trying to clean it up while minnows nibble at my leg hairs.

The big pay off is in the number of birds it attracts. There's finally enough cover (and fresh berries!) that they feel comfortable stopping by for a drink of water or a quick bath. Tink, now relegated to indoor cat, can only sit at the back window chattering teeth in remembrance of past bird snacks.