my new pond (and a DIY bog filter)

I have recently been working on setting up a small pond for my patio area. I love the sound of water and will eventually add a few fish. They are so fun to watch. I posted a couple pictures on a FB group and they all asked about my bog filter.

I first read about bog filters from a link on another post

Nelson Nursery – Bog Filters

I liked the idea, that I could create a natural ecological cycle to clean and filter the pond water.

I did a lot of looking around Pinterest and YouTube – researching how other people set up their bog filters. I knew I wanted to use a Galvanized tank for my pond, so I figured I would use a galvanized pail for my filter.

And after switching it to the other side and getting it planted (the plants are planted with some of their soil in pea gravel), here’s what it looks like today.

The water is currently murky because I just rearranged everything, and the debris need to settle.

I created a PDF detailing how I created my bog filter in the galvanized bucket. Feel free to share, just remember your pond and situation may vary – this is what worked for me.

PDF – Bog Filter

 

using blocking wires

I’m joining up with Ginny on her “yarn along“. I love to knit and love to read – but since I haven’t figured out how to do both at the same time – I also love Audible.  I think I’m relistening to the “Wheel of Time” series.

I received a set of  “blocking wires”, these are actually 308L 1/16″ welding rods.  And my brother, Aaron owns a welding company, Eagle Welding Service, Inc, and he gave me a tube of these (there are about 20 in the tube).

This shawl was knit by my Mother, and I do a lot of her blocking.  This was the first time I’ve used them.

It was a bit fiddly to work with these, but I’m liking how it’s turning out.

Over all it took about 1/2 hour to block this shawl out using the blocking wires which is pretty close to the time it would take just using pins.

Mom, I hope you like how this one turns out!

Have a great week ~ So what are you knitting / crocheting / spinning / reading / listening to?

Check out some others at the ~  Yarn Along & WIP Wednesday with tami’s amis

crochet again?

I’m joining up with Ginny on her “yarn along“. I love to knit and love to read – but since I haven’t figured out how to do both at the same time – I also love Audible.  I’ve started relistening to the “Wheel of Time” series.

I’ve been on a crochet kick lately, I started this afghan back in February (I think). It didn’t take too long to make the squares, I got so I could make one in about 35 minutes.

I used 4 different colorways of Bernat Mosaic yarn – all kind of “oceany” colors. I made 49 squares and am sewing it up in a 7 x 7 pattern. I had to order more yarn for attaching the squares and the border, so it’s been sitting for a couple weeks.

I am attaching the squares together by alternating single crochet into each square skipping a stitch on each side – along the whole row.

And now I’m attaching the squares in the other direction the same way.

I plan to do a couple rows around the outside once the squares are together to finish it off. I have to admit I’m not looking forward to all the loose ends…

Have a great week ~ So what are you knitting / crocheting / spinning / reading / listening to?

Check out some others at the ~  Yarn Along & WIP Wednesday with tami’s amis

ian’s blanket

I’m joining up with Ginny on her “yarn along“. I love to knit and love to read – but since I haven’t figured out how to do both at the same time – I also love Audible.  I think I’m going to relisten to the “Wheel of Time” series.

I finished this afghan up about a week ago or so. I used a Debbie Neville yarn, which actually turn out pretty soft and nice to work with. It had been awhile since I did much crochet, but this project seemed to come together pretty quickly. Maybe because I was sick part of the time I was working on it, so spent more time just sitting and crocheting….

Have a great week ~ So what are you knitting / crocheting / spinning / reading / listening to?

Check out some others at the ~  Yarn Along & WIP Wednesday with tami’s amis

knitting mojo is back

I’m joining up with Ginny on her “yarn along“. I love to knit and love to read – but since I haven’t figured out how to do both at the same time – I also love Audible. I’ve been listening to Zero Day by David Baldacci.

It’s been a while since I’ve been here, I had kinda lost my knitting mojo for a while, but I think it’s back with a vengeance.  I started this scarf  on Sunday and it is almost 2/3  of the way completed.

It’s an easy pattern, you start with four stitches, knit in garter stitch increasing one stitch every fourth row until you’ve used half your yarn, and then decease every fourth row until you are back to 4 stitches.

I changed it up a little by alternating yarn and adding an eyelet row every eighth row. I’m using a couple skeins I had in my stash of Deborah Norville Serenity Garden yarn, it’s 100% microfiber. The colorways I had are Hibiscus and Gems.

Thanks for visiting and I’m glad to be back…

Have a great week ~ So what are you knitting / crocheting / spinning / reading / listening to?

Check out some others at the ~  Yarn Along & WIP Wednesday with tami’s amis

lunch-time walk

 

If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk. ~ Raymond Inmon

 

Thoughts come clearly while one walks.  ~ Thomas Mann

Wordless Wednesday with  Live and Love Out Loud, Sarah Halstead, retro collage, wordless (almost) wednesday, wordless wednesday, nature notes, wordless wednesday, outdoor wednesday, project alicia, wordless or wordfull, create with joy, tina’s ww

pallet fun

I’ve seen different pallet projects as I’ve browsed Pinterest, so when I saw this double size pallet behind where I work, I knew I wanted to do something with it. I liked that it was extra big,  had extra boards added and that some were broken.  I called my sister, and we lugged it home in her truck.

First, we had to decide where to put it,  we decided on a particular place in the living room, and luckily with adding 10″ legs, we could make one of the holes fit where we had a light switch.

Next to decide what to put on it, I knew I wanted some kind of words on it.  So again, I browsed Pinterest and came up with a couple ideas. The one we decided on was an Alphabetic List of things to BE. So I printed out the words in large fonts and began cutting them out with a razor blade to make stencils.

Well, that took hours and sore fingers, but finally I got them all cut out.

We decided on mostly black letters with the “alphabet” letter being a contrasting color, and then mixed it up a little by using white letters on a couple boards.

And here is how it turned out – we love it…

my recent pinterest projects

In wanting to decorate my new bedroom, I browsed Pinterest looking for wall decor ideas. And found a couple photo to canvas projects I wanted to try.

One of them I tried was this one – where you print your photo on tissue paper and then mod podge it onto a canvas.

(pinterest – a little bit funky)

Well, printing on tissue paper wasn’t quite as easy as described, at least with my printer. But eventually I got one that was “ok” and here’s how mine turned out. And I like it…

Another one I tried was this one…

(pinterest – A Beautiful Mess)

This time you print your photo on photo paper, and then using a gel medium attach it face side down to your canvas (you need to make sure the photo is reversible or print it in reverse). Then once it’s dry, using a spray bottle you soak the back of the print and rub off the backing paper. It turns out a little streaky, because sometimes little sections of the photo rub off also.

And here’s my interpretation…

I had planned to do this one using that method, but forgot when I printed it to print it in reverse. So I just mod podge’d it to the canvas.

And here’s a picture of them together on my wall…

sharing with this or that thursday,  In the Studio-Sneek Peek Friday, Creative Friday, Show Your Stuff

knitting toys

I’m joining up with Ginny on her “yarn along“. I love to knit and love to read – but since I haven’t figured out how to do both at the same time – I also love Audible. I’ve been listening to a few Tom Clancy books.

In and around finishing the “Idaho” shawl, I’ve been knitting some toys to share with some little kids at a local Waldorf  School.

(juggling ball set, bunnies, snakes, cats and a little turtle)

Have a great week ~ So what are you knitting / crocheting / spinning / reading / listening to?

Check out some others at the ~  Yarn Along & WIP Wednesday with tami’s amis

an Idaho-bound shawl

I’m joining up with Ginny on her “yarn along“. I love to knit and love to read – but since I haven’t figured out how to do both at the same time – I also love Audible. I’ve been re-reading A Time to Dance by Karen Kingsbury.

It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve linked up. I haven’t been knitting as much as usual because I’m helping my sister with a quilt project. But when I do take time to knit I’ve mainly been working on a shawl that I’m knitting at the request of a friend. They live up in Idaho, so she wants it snuggly warm. I’m knitting the Sunny Days Ahead shawl from the Knit Prayer Shawls book by Leisure Arts.

I’m using Caron Simply Soft in a nice warm brown, I want this to be an easy care shawl. I have made a couple modifications to the pattern. The original pattern has a “three” petal flower at the top, and I changed it to a “five” petal flower. I wanted is to be more than a half circle, it’s probably a little more that a 3/4 circle. I also added a 5 stitch garter border to each side, I don’t have much luck in getting a smooth border when I have to knit it on after the fact.

It is about 15″ deep now and she is wanting it to be around 28-30″ deep, so I have some knitting to do!

Have a great week ~ So what are you knitting / crocheting / spinning / reading / listening to?

Check out some others at the ~  Yarn Along & WIP Wednesday with tami’s amis