Pond update and other trivial stuff...

This is the view from my front porch.

 See the back hoe in the picture?  That helps you see just how large this pile of mud/silt really is.   This is a small portion of it. 

 Pond is bone dry and more than 1/2 clean  the "walls" you see are where he hasn't cleaned.  They range in height from 3-4 ft.

 Add a dog to the picture to help try and see size of this stuff.   This is a big dog.  in the back ground you can see a little black square, that is a 4 gallon square bucket. 

 Here is where most of the stuff has gone.  This is our middle tank. It is nice and deep and huge, but it won't hold water.   It also has some major washes that erode away more all time.  So I came up with the idea of filling the washes with the gunk.  Maybe as it washes on into the pond it will settle in the areas that don't hold water and seal them off.   It also means one less stop for the gunk. 

 See how it washes?  This will pretty much be filled back to ground level with gunk before he is done.

 This is a closer look at what this gunk looks like.  The dog is having a closer look too.

On to more things going on.  This is my flower bed in the front yard.  Lack of water and a couple of very cold snaps pretty well took care of the lantana I had in there.  I did buy a couple to start back.  I also put some herbs there.   Rosemary, lavender and oregano for far.  I bought some Thai Basil  and Texas Tarragon but haven't gotten them planted.
 

Don't you love my doggy wire over the top?  It really is doggy, chicken, guinea, peafowl, kid wire.   Hey what ever works!   oh forgot kitty in that list.

Isn't this plant pretty?  I wish I knew what it was.  I might buy some more.  I bought it last year or the year before clearanced.  If it had a name tag it has long been gone.  It survives, so it is hardy and blooms early and I think all summer which is a plus.  

On to the next area we are working.   This is my neglected overgrown garden.  Kids have been working really hard at taking it back.  I supervise and help a little.  They do most of it.   Once we get it de-weeded we are going to put weed-X down then chat which is a type of white rock/dirt that when watered sits up almost like cement.   This should help keep the weeds off the walk ways.  I am going to weed-X all beds I can this year with just holes for the plants.  I did this last year with the peppers. It really helped with the weeding. 

 On to the barn yard, where lots of courtship is taking place.  This male peacock is trying to show how beautiful he is to all the hens who I'm sure are paying more attention than it looks like they are.  

I do not have any idea how many males I have.  They are everywhere and all in full strut most of the time.  It is funny as they don't get all their beautiful feathers until they are 3-4 years old.  The first year they zero color except on their neck.  The next year they have little bit of very short pretty tail.  It really gives you the idea of what "Strutting like a peacock" means. 

Besides all this we are planning some camping trips in the future.  Hope to have lots of fun pictures from them when we get back.   One will be neat as it is for adoptive families.  The Texas Council on Adoptable Children is sponsoring it.   The other is a church camping trip.  

Add to that my heavy milking milk cow is about to calve and I will be tied down with her for a few weeks until her baby can drink that much milk.  We really can use some extra milk as our friend has dried their cow up waiting on a calf.   So we are supplying more than two homes will milk.  

I am excited it is beginning to look green here.  We are SOOO dry, the green is just leaves, mesquite for the most part but it IS green.   Praying for rain...........as soon as the pond is finished!