Yesterday I got there just in time to see a man finish up spreading grass seed. Practicing on zoom. I just can't hold the phone still enough to use the zoom. The main problem is most of these pictures require considerable outdoor walking, and then breathing gets heavy.
More about yesterday... The high temp hit 78F ! ..The concrete truck *was* supposed to come that afternoon, but they cancelled it. Pipes and fittings for the new drain were on the dam. These are 12" in diameter. They still had only one pump, had converted the siphon pipe to just a long tube, and duct taped it to the red hose. The water was down only about 6" from yesterday. It was pretty clear nothing much could happen today, plus there were showers off and on, at least in town, until afternoon. I really hate to miss watching the cement truck, but have an appointment in town Friday morning. Maybe I should cancel it. They put the trash cover out in the water to stand on, and tried to saw the top of the riser pipe off with a circular saw. I don't quite understand the reason for this, but maybe it will be clear later. Then this. Fished out the trash cover at the end. There is something hypnotizing about watching water go down that hole, so I added it to the end. I'm going to miss it when it's gone.
They probably cut the pipe off as that was faster than pumping it out. They will just have to put another length on when they are finished.
That old riser pipe is going to be filled with concrete and abandoned. A whole new PVC siphon drain system is going in beside it. The top of that pipe is already 5 feet below where the water level will be when the lake is filled back up. The only possible reason I can think of for them to keep chopping the old pipe down is they want solid ground, with no water to stand in, right beside the pipe when they fill it with concrete. If that's NOT the reason, then the more you keep cutting the pipe off, the more water you have to drain down. I think they are avoiding the inevitable---bringing in some adequate pumps and hoses to keep the water down while they are working. There is still more work to do in the water after the pipe is filled. Can't you rent a pumping system? But I don't dare ask too many questions. .
A roller coaster ride today. Life is a crap shoot and I lost yesterday, by choosing to stay home. Something must have lit a fire under those guys, because they finished almost everything yesterday---the concrete and laying the new drain pipes, worked until dark. All they had left today was the siphon valves, which I still don't understand, and covering the new pipes, and they finished those this afternoon. I told them I wanted to be there when the concrete truck came, and when they laid the pipes, but didn't specifically ask them to call me. Just when I started grumbling to myself about men, and their two On/Off switches, Fence Man sends me a bunch of pictures they took yesterday, by text message. Just as I was ready to leave for the day, feet killing me, had one last chore---to check on Rusty. He was nowhere to be found! I looked over every inch of his pasture, over an acre, all the while thinking what I'm going to do if he got out, or if I found him hurt, or dead. When I got back to the barn there he was standing there like he never left. He can be a real rascal sometimes. ps: Still no signs of mice.
For years, the contractors I've talked to have been telling me that the drain pipe on the dam was 18". I always thought it was 24" but didn't argue. When even the engineer put it as 18" on his official expensive plans, I surrendered, and started telling everyone it was 18". Fence man told me today it was 24" and that error in the plans messed him up a little bit. So there!!! (Just had to sneak that in) He said they came up with a "brain storm" to solve the water problem. They took a chunk of 36" culvert, placed it around the existing drain pipe, shoved it down into the mud, waited 'til the water drained out, then poured the concrete. Water was still running through, from the leaking deep bottom drain out in the middle of the lake. I forget how he said they solved that problem. Must ask again tomorrow. Pictures they texted from yesterday: Looking down into the drain pipe, showing water passing through from the leaking deep drain. On his cellphone this was a video and you could see the water actually flowing, but he just sent this image. The brain storm, with his name on it. LOL Three shots of the dual drain pipes in the trench, starting from the back of the dam, up, over, and back down into the water. Pics they took this afternoon: The two siphon vents. They showed me where the new water level will be. I don't believe it, but will keep my mouth shut. It won't be much different. Rock pool surrounding the siphon vent outlets. Fence Man The lake is now filling up. Will try to restrain from posting more pictures until it is full. It may take a few weeks. Then we'll find out if this thing really works. .
Great news! Rusty has the ability to make himself invisible! The Goat and I by Robert Service Each sunny day upon my way A goat I pass; He has a beard of silver grey, A bell of brass. And all the while I am in sight He seems to muse, And stares at me with all his might And chews and chews. Upon the hill so thymy sweet With joy of Spring, He hails me with a tiny bleat Of welcoming. Though half the globe is drenched with blood And cities flare, Contentedly he chews the cud And does not care. Oh gentle friend, I know not what Your age may be, But of my years I'd give the lot Yet left to me, To chew a thistle and not choke, But bright of eye Gaze at the old world-weary bloke Who hobbles by. Alas! though bards make verse sublime, And lines to quote, It takes a fool like me to rhyme About a goat. This poem is in the public domain.
That's a nice poem, Joe. The thing about Rusty is his color. He blends right into the fallen leaves in the winter. After a while he wandered off again and laid behind a little patch of broom sedge and I couldn't see him at first again. The second thing is he won't come when you show up, even if he knows you have treats. That is really odd for a goat. He just never did trust people, or other goats, but still doesn't like to be alone. His twin sister was the same way. They were always inseparable. I see his friend the deer, who has gotten bigger and survived hunting season, at least once a week, inside the smaller pasture, but always from behind racing off with white tail flopping. The deer doesn't know he would probably get head-butted if he stayed close enough. I'm waiting for the furnace man to show up, sometime between 8 and 10.
This is a bird. It was just standing in the woods today not 20 feet away, next to water trickling down from a spring. It didn't move. I think it was hoping I wouldn't notice. I just said hello and went on.
Do you have a garden or plant a garden in the spring? With all that you are doing you might try planting some of these. Might help out with some of whatever you are doing. I planted some last year but someone dug them up. Waited too late to replant.