maureen

So, lesson learned! 1) vet advice from the internet even more carefully 2) be wary of adding clay to a backyard pond 3) if something goes wrong, you can always try again

Next steps: clean all the gravel (how, you ask? great question! I'll let you know when I figure it out), reassemble the pond, and add the water and plants back in. I've also ordered a new fountain, as the previous one got clogged by clay particles

So far, I've removed all of the water, gravel, and clay. The water was charcoal grey and smelled like death and rotted seaweed. No wonder none of the animals were hanging out anymore!

But now I'm off work for a week and my mom is coming to visit! My mom loves gardening and a project, so she will not be offended and will probably help.

"maybe it will clear up!" I thought.

It did not.

This was also happening at the end of summer reading when I simply didn't have the fortitude to deal with it.

Unfortunately, something went wrong at this point. We went from a lovely clear pond that was enjoyed by a lot of birds & other wildlife to a murky, gunky pond that was not enjoyed by anyone.

So I trotted out and inspected the cat litter to make sure that clay was the only listed ingredient. Got the litter damp, squished it in, and felt victorious.

If I haven't talked about the backyard pond much, it's because things went slightly awry. See, I saw some advice that said you could use cat litter as a clay layer, and I thought, "perfect! Will fill in the gaps where you can still see the liner!"

So glad you liked it!

Good morning! I posted a small fic last night!

this is mostly very, very silly, but I hope you have fun reading it!

New ficlet! "fearful symmetry" for @littledust.bsky.social

🌻 Chengqing, and they were roommates, cozy
🌻 821 words, Wen Qing pov
🌻 A Mysterious Noise means that Wen Qing has to investigate

archiveofourown.org/works/68649191

Still have plenty of coneflowers, sunflowers & cosmos!

The front yard is looking sundappled & lovely; asters, goldenrod, & swamp marigold will be blooming soon.

Sunday garden report: picked more tomatoes & green beans; cucumbers are growing alarmingly fast; late raspberries just need to ripen

Noooooooo Jenny!!!

I stand by it too

Update: just called Journey in the Dark "my jam"

Still got it (the ability to match any Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack song to its scene in the movie)

HELP I am trapped

SO much nicer than earlier in the week when it was 95° and 80% humidity

part 2

Beautiful garden morning

a kid at my library today keeps mispronouncing Diary of a Wimpy Kid as Diarrhea Wimpy Kid and, honestly, I think this is a solid suggestion for Jeff Kinney

I simply refuse!!!!

do I mean reading fic or writing fic? yes.

Thursday things:
- it is raining and cooler today! I'm so happy!!
- I'm off for three days after today & then next week my mom comes to visit!
- my attention span for fic has been in the basement 😭

hahahahhahahahahahhahaaa

I am lodging an official protest

IT IS TOO HOT