31 December 2010
We have had just gone through the coldest December in Northern Ireland since records began in 1890 and we have experienced many days of -6 deg Celsius through the day and colder than -10 at night which is very extreme for us. It was so bad that the airports were closed for some days not just here but in the rest of UK and parts of Europe due to the heavy snow falls and the problems caused by the ice... This affected us when my mum was unable to fly over for Christmas and ended up spending the holiday on her own in Kent. We skyped her for the opening of the Christmas presents on Christmas Day and my sister Pip opened hers for her... Skyping during Christmas Dinner was a little less successful...
The problem with the Koi pond was first noticed just before Christmas and by Christmas Eve (after a phone call to the Mid Ulster Garden Centre near Maghera to make sure they were open) we had no option but to set off in dreadful driving conditions to purchase a new pond liner...
I took a few snaps using my mobile phone through the car window as we drove slowly along the icy roads. In Belfast when we set off it was -3 deg Celsius by the time we arrived at the garden centre the temperatures had fallen to -8 deg Celsius and the nozzles on the car windscreen washer had frozen which caused us a few problems with visibility...
When we arrived and asked for pond liner the young man at the till looked at us as though we were utterly mad and repeated "Pond Liner???" then someone else came over and said, yes, you phoned earlier and he very helpfully worked out the size we would need from our pond dimensions.
It took a surprisingly short time to empty the pond as it was already 2/3 drained and most of the remaining water went into the large tub we bought to put the koi carp into.
The old liner had become very brittle after over a decade underwater and the piece of slate that had fallen off the waterfall had caused a gash in the side...
Neil is brilliant when it comes to these awkward jobs. We cleaned the old liner and removed anything sharp and as much of the sludge as possible. We had been advised that it would be best to lay the liner directly over the old one.
It was surprisingly difficult to deal with the liner which was 4 metres wide by 3 metres long. We had kept it in the house from Christmas Eve until we were able to start work on New Years Eve as this helped to make it supple and pliant and easier to manipulate. In the end we decided that after we had got it roughly into place it would be easiest to use the weight of the water to fit the pondliner into the shape of the pond.
We are very attached to the koi carp. They all have names and are quite friendly. We did have one very friendly fish but it was killed by the heron which caused us to have to cover the pond with chicken wire to keep the remaining fish safe from harm. This however, has prevented us from being able to interact with the fish as much as we used to which I think is a shame but better that than the fish being killed.
Neil stroking the koi.... before their imminent release.
Neil did a wonderful job rebuilding the waterfall area. It looked really great. I rather couldn't help laughing when he stepped back lost his balance and ended up with two very wet feet as the icy cold water made its way inside his wellington boots... he said a couple of choice expletives as he emptied out his boots... but gallantly continued...
Pond refilled and fish back in situ and the edges of the liner being trimmed off by Neil (behind the camelia). After which he was definitely ready for a warm bath just to try to thaw out...
There is a gap in the wire and a set of steps created using small paviers at the point of the yellow hose where any small mammal that might fall in will be able to clamber out and escape...
