WooHoo! The excavator finally (2 weeks delay from rain) finished his prior job and hauled equipment in today. They cleared trees for 2 1/2 hours this afternoon, and got about 3/4 of that part of the job done:


We did a quick rough transit shoot after shutting off the trackhoe and the dozer. My SWAG from walking off the major and minor axes on the ground agrees with the excavator's eyeball figure and the estimate from topo map evaluation. It should end up about 1/3 acre. Intended use is for breeding populations of SMB and RES, plus male-only BG.

My wife keeps repeating "How much is this going to cost?" So far I'm following the DLYWKHMTPC philosophy; it's doubtful it will hold up since she writes all the checks.

two thumbs up from el dorado theo!!

that looks like a beautiful secluded spot. how deep is it gonna be?

Somewhere from 9 or 10 feet to as deep as is needed to get enough clay for the dam (dam pretty much covers 2 sides). We don't need a huge amount of depth (compared to El Dorado) here for evaporative loss; my main pond has been down 11"-12" at most during this rather dry year - that's the lowest it's ever been.

You can see the site (and the trees being removed) in the green-marked area here. Both ponds are blocked from the view of the subdivision by the ridge that runs South (below, in the aerial photo) of both of them. We will be using extra topsoil from the pond and some contouring to improve the haymaking potential of the three fields next to it (this, of course, is the real reason the 2nd pond is needed ).

so it sounds like its not a 100% dug out pond, yer using some of the topography, and will you core in both lengths of the dam?

any structure besides rootballs planned? or leaving it smooth for ease of seining?

We'll get about 4' of the depth from the dam. It'll be cored for the whole length. Actually, the dam is kind of one whole side (next to the woods), one 1/3 side, and one 2/3 side - the short sides aren't as tall, but still need raised.

I will be putting in spawning structure/beds for SMB (rock beds, log "walls", and perhaps root ball "columns" - see the Archive thread on SMB Beds for the general idea), some pea gravel over an area for RES spawning, and a Condello-esque BG Condo. But I want to leave maybe half of the bottom free of obstructions for safe & easy seining, to be able get small RES (& SMB??? - have to see) for transfer to the main pond.

Yepper...s'bout time for groundbreaking at Theopolis. Lookin' forward to the progress photos and updates, pal. Hey! Who's takin' the pics? With what cam? Is that thar one o' dem photo stitch fotos?

Way to go Theo. Looking forward to the reports and pics. Take some of the SMB spawning structures.

CONGRATULATIONS THEO...
Know you have worked long and hard planning this project.....fun stuff..

That explains why that cow is looking on/supervising the work in progress so intently...she has a vested interest!

Enjoy every step of the journey, my friend.

Where's the cow? I must have missed her.

I'm jealous.

Just FYI, start saving up for your B.I.S.A. initiation fees.

This, from the guy that still reads every copy of Child Highlights...?
(check the trees, man)

Is the cow upside down or something like that?

I still can't find it. #@%&!!!!

There is no cow in the color photo. ML must have REALLY good eyes (or maybe access to that famous NASA image enhancing software) to be picking any cows out in the B&W aerial shot.

I see what ML is looking at in the color photo, it might not be a cow but certainly could be mistaken for one. It looks like the guy standing to the right of the bulldozer is standing directly in front of a cow with it's neck streched out, ears laid back, the fence post could be mistaken as the cows back leg. Nice optical illusion.

Theo, did I mention I'm jealous! Boy would I love to have a SMB/RES growout pond.

That's a couple of root balls, Shorty. Amazing thing is, it looks much more like one of our polled herefords than one of ML's Brangus/Brahma/Brandied Belgian cattle.

All the trees are out and the worst of the roots removed, ready for the pan (scraper) to come in tomorrow and remove topsoil:


Note for Brettski: Photos are from a Fujifilm FinePix A500, picked up on clearance for my Son to take on vacation (our Canon died while he was gone). All these so far are just cropped from distance shots; I have raw material for splicing big composites, but haven't had time yet.

Note for all: For a short time only, we are giving away firewood. Tell me how many logs you want - you pay the shipping.

Now I can't see the cow. I could actually see it until you said there was none.

Congratulations Theo. There's nothing like starting out on a big project to energize your bones.

Wow Theo! It's like you snuck into my dream and improved upon it.

Last March I started making plans for a very similar grow-out pond, just a little smaller -- about a quarter acre. Five months ago I scheduled my vacation from work so I could start excavating as of this Friday.

It is staked off. About two thirds of the water (4 to 5 feet, avg.) would be in an excavated basin, while the top third would be held behind a dam extending only four feet above present ground level -- or about a foot above a natural spillway. I know I've got good clay down as deep as my backhoe will dig. Even in this drought, my test hole has good water in it. Lots of big trees to clear.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, several other priorities have taken precedence. It will be real interesting to learn from your experience.

I'll think about you over the next several days while you are slaving in the hot mud, fighting mosquitoes and wood ticks, as I attempt to save some saltwater fish from drowning.

Good luck,
Ken G.

After about one day's worth of pan operation, the root-infested part of the topsoil is pretty much off the pond site and ALL the topsoil is off 85% (all but the far end) of the core trench area.

I made a Command Decision yesterday to drop the water level by a foot, which great reduces the length of the core trench (due to the shallow slopes at each end). We'll have to excavate a foot deeper to get the same water depth, but it will be less work and have smaller footprints sticking out into the field on each side than the higher water level would have been. We got a really good laser transit shoot (no obstacles) of the lowered pond area, with good measurements (i.e. not me pacing off distances while dodging trees) - the reduced pond area is about 20,000 sq. ft., a little under 1/2 acre. This made the Command Decision easy, since the smaller pool is still bigger than my prior rough estimates.

At the dark streak in the middle of the trench area, the topsoil was between 3.5' and 4' thick!!!

This is awesome! Hardly a "growout" pond. This is a full-fledged serious real life pond.

I can see the cow. Can't you see the cow?

Theo,

So what are your plans for the second pond in case I haven't been following this close enough? Dong anything different than the first one? Is this going to be a smallmouth pond as Sunil seems to suggest? If you need a source for feed trained smallmouth I know a good one. Could even pick them up for you and meet you half way.

Cecil:

CURRENT PLANS

It WILL fill this Winter.

FHM & Gambusia and my (20 still captive) feed-trained RES - Spring 2008.

More adult-sized RES throughout next year as caught & transferred

I think I will get a RES spawn there next year, as at least 2 of 6 feed-trained RES I returned to my main pond in April this year were on spawning beds there a couple of weeks later.

August-Sept 2008 - Transfer of fingerling RES seined from main pond - This should give me 3 (year ) classes of Redears - adults, 2007 YOY, and 2008 YOY.

I have previously planned to add small fingerling SMB (& some HSB to growout and transfer) in Fall 2008 or Spring 2009, depending on their availability.

Male-only BG added over time as they are identified.

Theo, did anybody ever tell you that you obviously have a wonderful and understanding wife?

Guess who's driving the vibrating sheep's foot roller compacter as an unpaid assistant to my excavator.

...believe it!

Congratulations Theo, what an exciting event!

Beautiful countryside. Everything is so green. Heck this time of year in El Dorado all the grass is brown and dry - I'm just not use to seeing vibrant green looking grass in August.

Keep us updated!

I can't believe you guys can't see the cow.

We are in a moderate drought - no BS.

Originally posted by JHAP:

...ah, but the SMILE on the cow, so mysterious, so enigmatic...you'd only find a cow like that on the farm of a true Renaissance man like our Theo......I'm not surprised that in addition to being enigmatic, the beast can also levitate.

Coincidence? I don't think so.

everybody missed the smiling pig:

Another frightening coincidence...

This pig is positioned just right to use it's front hooves to crush Theo's dreams.

Dang, Theo it sure looked like a cow on my screen. ...but I also saw the water turkey eating Tilapia that came out of your bit stream.

Looks like a great project!! The only thing better then one pond is two ponds. Of course, the obvious next step is to figure out where the third pond will go?

Eddie

Actually, Eddie, I know where a third pond would go - roughly where the pig's head is. What I don't know is when it would happen or how the $ for it would appear.

OTOH we all know why.

{TEMPORARY THREAD HIJACK ON]

This is gonna date me some but do you folks remember years ago in the back of magazines (found mine in the TV guide) you could find an ad to draw a deer or a skunk and send it in for a free art evaluation to a place... I think it was called American Art Institute or some name like that? Well a youthful JHAP painstakingly tried to draw the sample deer as well as he could and send in to the Institute for a free evaluation hoping that he would become a great artist. A few weeks later I received a reply back that after careful evaluation of my drawing the American Art Institute had determined that I would make a great CPA. Ok, I admit it that was not the exact response but they basically said "don't call us we'll call you." I was a crushed young JHAP.

And now look at me some 40 plus years later my art work is being compared to Da Vinci and Picasso. TAKE THAT American Art Institute!

Sorry for the interruption you now may return to your regularly scheduled programming.

{TEMPORARY THREAD HIJACK OFF]

Theo,

Two questions:

Numero uno - how often do you have to mow around your place?

Numero dos - A second pond and an inquiry regarding an Aquaculture license, what are you up to?

Oh and by the way other that those few words and tequila, cerveza, and bano that's the extent of my spanish so please answer in english - gracias

Wow. At 10:32 this morning Theo just made post number 5K. Now, that's prolific.

Numero uno - It varies depending on whether each field is being used for first cutting of hay and then pasture, first and second cutting of hay and then pasture, hay only, or pasture only, but it averages about three times a year.

Numero dos -

TOP TEN REASONS THEO MIGHT BE BUILDING A SECOND POND AND INQUIRING ABOUT AN AQUACULTURE LICENSE:

10. Was reading Matthew 4:19 and pretty much got it backwards.

9. Needs to intensify efforts if he is ever going to kill as many fish as Condello.

8. 22 years of gainful employment have left him with a dread fear of receiving a steady paycheck.

7. After years of getting no respect while fighting crime in his secret guise of Aquaman, he intends to cash in on sole super power of mental telepathy with fish.

6. The first track on The Beatles' Revolver album.

5. Space Aliens offered to stock second pond for free giving distinct business advantage over competition.

4. Family doctor recommended he work underwater due to chronic dry skin condition.

3. Setting up new Top Secret headquarters for Pond Boss' move to Ohio (Bad news: Future PB conventions will be in Granville, Ohio. Good News: Someone in Oklahoma will now be the first to receive each issue of PBMag.)

2. Has entered mid-life crisis but doesn't like Corvettes.

AND, THE #1 REASON THEO MIGHT BE BUILDING A SECOND POND AND INQUIRING ABOUT AN AQUACULTURE LICENSE,

1. Needs new material to use for writing his second 5000 forum posts.

Entertaining as usual, Theo. My favorites are 10, 3, and 2.

"3. Setting up new Top Secret headquarters for Pond Boss' move to Ohio (Bad news: Future PB conventions will be in Granville, Ohio. Good News: Someone in Oklahoma will now be the first to receive each issue of PBMag."

Really, what are you trying to say here?

If PB moves to Ohio, I'll still bet I'd get mine first!

Congratulations Bro! 5K!!! 5K More!!!!! Wait...

10 - Had to break out the bible to translate that reason. (Yes I own a bible, even though I might, on rare occasions, engage in behavior that is more comparable to the actions of a minion of the netherworld, just for the record, I do in fact own a copy of the good book).

9 - Ouch, cheap shot. Glad you and Condello are friends otherwise you never know what form of revenge a dentist could inflict upon you.

6 - Ahhh, a Beatles classic...
Let me tell you how it will be;
There's one for you, nineteen for me.
'Cause I’m the taxman,
Yeah, I’m the taxman.

2- You don't like Corvettes??? What about apple pie?

1- Congratulations on 5,000 Theo. That right there is good enough reason for me. I look forward to the next 5,000. We're lucky to have you here.

Okay, to get this thread back on track (and you have no idea how astonished and upset I am that it ever got OFF track):

Core trench was excavated this A.M. and partially refilled and compacted in the afternoon. I got to watch the last 6" (or so) lift being dozed in, spread, and compacted.


The prettiest vibrating sheepsfoot roller (turbocharged diesel; DON'T GO THERE!) driver I know told me "NO MORE DAMS WITH 70 DEGREE CURVES IN THEM!"


Note she didn't say "No more dams!"

Really top-notch documentation. Great looking dam.

Have you considered looking into the snakehead/gizzard shad option?

I feel that Theocity's profile picture would be better served if he was holding up a stringer of snakeheads.

Hey that looks like the head engineer operating that sheepsfoot roller. No doubt who is in charge on that job.

That is one classic photo, ain't it! That's gotta be the first PB file photo of a vibratin' sheepsfoot in action...and look who's the skipper. This one goes into the Gallus family scrapbook for sure.
Which piece of heavy equipment are you runnin', Theodoseous? :p

Theopolis is running the brainscavator.

...equipment description and job execution requested; in Caterpillar-ese.

I've been gathering up and stockpiling big rocks with a front end loader after work once the big rigs shut down for the day. Other than that, I operate a camera.

theo, the banter here should lift yer spirit during the nervousness of excavation and the outlay of hard earned pennies (sorry about the pig thing....but i saw it in the trees and couldnt help myself).

awesome pics of yellow iron......i love the smell of diesel in the morning. it must wreak havoc on you that you cant be there all day.

where are yer rocks coming from? are they rounded or angular...curious if they are glacial in origin. the more rocks the merrier is my opinion from el dorado....keep the pics, stories, and documentation coming......great stuff.

Dang Theo when you get to working on a project you don't mess around! That is some serious heavy equipment. Beautiful soil also - looks like you could grow anything in it - your Hay is gonna leap out of the ground!

Continue to man the FinePix A500 the photos are great!

Core is now above ground and probably 3/4 done. Basin is beginning to take shape, as the hole you can see to the left of the dam is finish depth for that area. Absolute bottom will be about a foot deeper.


:) I've got tomorrow scheduled off; Mrs Gallus is tied up both A.M. & P.M. and I may just get to run the compacter.

We are roughly on the average stopping point for the four big ice age sheets' farthest progress South. North and West of us is flat & smooth, South & East of us is very hilly. Bedrock is shale. Loose rocks are anything found between here and the Canadian Shield (except maybe sandstone; I don't think it travels well under a glacier). Size ranges (so far) up to a chunk of pink granite uncovered while digging the first pond that was about 8' on the major axis and 3-4' across (it's sitting up-ended on the bottom of the pond with the top 3' below the waterline at full pool). For a sample of shapes, I photographed some leftovers from the first pond since they've had 6 years to get the dirt washed off.

my finders fee is 25c per site (or item). thats how i do it. whenever i refer business to folks (or facilitate a finding or sale). it may sound cheap, but the goodwill spread from the gesture comes back to me ten-fold in continued business relationships and friendships.

that said......theo, and all you mid-westerners, beware, keep yer eyes open, whenever you dig in the heartland the possibility of finding an iron meteorite (and other more rare types) is VERY REAL. Individual stones can bring in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

that said.....please remember my first paragraph

have fun on the compactor theo.......she's taking shape real nice. nice rocks BTW.....the pink granite you described could be over 1 billion years old...how does it feel to own a piece of canada?

that said......theo, and all you mid-westerners, beware, keep yer eyes open, whenever you dig in the heartland the possibility of finding an iron meteorite (and other more rare types) is VERY REAL. Individual stones can bring in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.


"Honey, I'm not digging another pond. I'm strip mining for meteorites."

Let me know if this works.

Theo,

It sure looks great. The only thing better would be if that was my back yard.

I guess I'm not surprised, but your rocks and soil look just like mine.

And, you may really be in luck. By the end of next week the remnants of Tropical Storm Dean and Tropical Depression #5 may be filling it for you.

Keep the photos and progress coming.

Ken

We had a short crew this morning, as my excavator finished earthmoving for a sidewalk job, then hauled his small trackhoe to my place. So I gathered rocks from around the farm for a couple hours while his #2 operator smoothed out topsoil we had spread in 2 hayfields.

I got to run the compactor for about 5 hours after lunch. We raised the core about 18" today. The current top is still about a foot below the planned full pool waterline. After laser shooting the spot 3' below the waterline where the 1" waterline (for cattle) will enter them dam, I measured eventual depth at the current low spot in the hole - it'll be about 11 1/2 feet deep.

The 1" water line and it's 2 anti-seep collars went through the dam yesterday. Today we installed a freeze-out hydrant and cut-off valve (accessible through the corrugated pipe) below the dam for eventual cattle watering. The job was, for some reason (see genius Son holding idiot stick ), easier than it was 6 years ago with our first pond.

What did you use for the anti-seep's at the water line?

2'x2' rubber sheet types from AgriDrain Corp in Adair Iowa. I missed it due to day job requirements, but Mrs. Gallus bonded the sheet to the pipe with silicone seal. Our excavator did the small ditch refill compaction honors with your old friend, Mr. Jumpin' Jack. He owns his own.

Theo

Did you get rained out????

We're all waiting for an update.

I hope that no news is good news.

Had to stay out of the basin for a week due to 3+" of rain which left 3+ feet of water in the bottom. We pumped it out Wedenesday P.M. with a 3" trash pump, let things dry for another day, and got 2 good days of work in Friday and Saturday.

The core is almost finished now; the center 80% is full height and the ends need about another 6"-10". It will get about 6" of topsoil on top of that. Then the work contouring spawning beds, an underwater island, and a 4 foot deep "seining flat" will be done. My excavator thinks there's about 3 days of work left on the pond.

As of yesterday:

I LOVE the idea of a seining flat. That's awesome.

It will also work great as a lepomis spawning area.

10-4 on the seining flat/bed. I had thought about convolutions on the bottom of mine, then I thought about needing to sein.
Looking good. I had also thought about a peninsula, then changed to an islend with a short bridge connecting. That way, the circulation from the aerator will not be interrupted.

Aeration water flow + fishing ease are the reasons my submerged island is going in off to one side.

Wow, sweet! Love the photos.

The core is finished! About 2/3 of the basin (by area, much more by volume) is now complete. The excavation crew spent the afternoon coordinating with me on the phone to come up with places to remove clay to:

1) Topsoil moved from bottom of backside of dam to top, clay added to backside of dam. It now has a really gentle slope, will be great for mowing. The topsoil will get spread over the clay tomorrow.

2) Cut 50 foot path for scraper to the logging roads in the woods, will haul a bunch back there. My wife called twice to ensure that it wouldn't accidentally get put where the 3rd pond might go someday. She said she doesn't want to have to pay to move it twice.

3) 39 yards dumped inside the machinery barn to raise the floor level and hopefully stop water entry during heavy storms with a South wind. I stockpiled 120 yards of clay from the first pond and moved it in here later, but underestimated how much it would take. This should fix it.



I'm glad we built the doors 16' wide and 14' high!

The dirt work in the bowl is finished. The dam is complete except for putting the drain pipe through it (that goes in tomorrow). About 80% of the shore has topsoil re-spread on it (much done after today's pictures were taken); The bulk of the remaining topsoil will go on the field on the other side of the brushpile (to ensure it drains) and to raise the shore on the inlet side of the pond.

We have 100 bales of straw (and a contact good this weekend for more, if needed) for mulching and have rented the mulch chopper/blower from the local soil and water office for a 4 day weekend (I will post a picture of it for those who have never seen one - it's a neat piece of machinery). Our objective for the weekend (which starts tomorrow since I'm taking the day off - woo hoo!) is to get all of the exposed dirt, down to a couple of feet below the eventual waterline, seeded, and mulch at least the worst of the slopes (dam, shoreline, fields draining in to the pond).

Here is the nearly-finished view of the entire pond:



and here is a picture (that I wish was more differentiating) of the dirt structures on the SE side of the pond. With luck or a little imagination you may be able to see two SMB spawning shelves (at 3' and 5' of depth) on the right side, the submerged island ("Atlantis") smack dab in the middle, and a seining area on the left side. There are another set of SMB spawning shelves on the NE side on the pond, too.

Great photos Theo, keep them coming.

I love the photo of the "machinery barn" also - that building must be huge!

Can you retake that last photo in evening or early morning light? I think the contrast would help the visual.

I'm saving some bluegill for your project.

JHAP: It's not really all that big, measures 40'x52', but it's got 9 doors (seven 10 feet wide and the 2 big 16 feet wide ones the scraper went through). The center (free span) section is 26'x40' with about 18' of head room. The scraper almost started driving back out before it finished driving in.

Bruce: I will take another pic, as soon as it's not overcast. Today was not one of the 90 days of sun we get each year.

It looks...mahvelous!
Good job, Theo. Man, you're gonna have a tough time decidin' which pond to park your can o' worms and cane po at. Yeah, I sure do wanna see the mulch chopper. Perennial rye?

Thanks for all the photos Theo. The place looks great. Keep in mind that the chopper/mulcher seems to take twice as much straw as you'd think but it's great that our counties have them available. It's a perfect time to plant grass. Here's a link for review http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthread...=true#Post74453 Not an ad but of the 4 varieties of seed mix I've used at my place, Champaign Landmark's Athletic Turf mix has performed the best and doesn't require much mowing.

C'mon Straw-Chopper...update/pics!

Friday and Saturday were pretty busy. On the dirt-moving side, we put in the drain pipe and spread/finished dressed the remainder of the topsoil.

The drain is double-walled (corrugated outside, smooth inside) 8" black plastic. There are 2 4'x4' rubbersheet-on-wood-frame anti-seep collars on it at the top of the dam, basically one on each side of the core. The whole drain pipe ditch was recompacted with a jumping jack, in roughly 3" lifts at the core/anti-seep collars, in slightly thicker (6"?) lifts on the backside of the dam. We brought up a small dump truck load of clay from the save pile in the woods to have plenty of good material. This is the same way we recompacted the drainpipe on my first pond, and it has shown absolutely NO settling wrt the rest of the dam in 6 years.


At the drain discharge, my excavator put in a "splashpit" consisting of a bowl lined with head-size chunks of limestone to take up the force of the water running out. This is a big improvement over what we did last time (nothing, and I added rock later) and I think it will probably work pretty good at controlling erosion there (there has not been a serious problem on the other pond in 6 years, just a small hole that seems stable in size).


They also distributed and spread out the remainder of the topsoil pile, doing one field at a time so Mrs. Gallus and I could begin reseeding on each one in turn. Two grass seed mixes were selected by my better half, our Equine Nutrition Officer, in consultation with the local S&W guys. They want fescue on the dam as it is more drought-tolerant here, she wants no fescue in hayfields/pastures, as it can be problematic to feed to horses in this area, given our local fungal load. (And we think feeding fish is tricky - catfish don't colic.)

For the dam (and the clay save pile in the woods) we are using:
Atlas Tall Fescue (35%)
Climax Timothy (25%)
Orchardgrass (19%)
Bestfor Tetraploid Ryegrass (19 %) - sounds mutant, eh?

For the renovated hay/pasture fields, leading to the other sides of the pond, we are using:
Icon Orchardgrass (33%)
Treasure Timothy (25%)
Spring Green Festulolium (15%) - no, I did not make that up
Command Orchardgrass (14%)
Geronimo Kentucky Bluegrass (10%)

Given our field history and usage, significant amounts of brome grass and various legumes will be appearing volunteer-like over the next few years.

Right now everything has been seeded once and the run over with a drag (upside-down chain link harrow) to mix the seed in with the top 1/2" of dirt (We could do this working alone). We will reseed everything at least one more time and the mulch the high concern/erosion areas with straw. Pictures of that to follow.

The excavator is pulling out the rest of his equipment to do a pond renovation job at a local arboretum Monday, and will be coming back after that to clean up the brush piles and clear fence row space through the woods behind the field next to the new pond. He will be able to assist placing large rock/root ball structure at that time, so I need to see what sizes of each I can handle by myself with the front end loader, place them, and plan out where the big stuff I'll need help with goes. I will be starting a separate thread (which I will link to here) on placing above-dirt structure in the pond.

Here is how it looked and the dirt work was done:

Looking good Theo.

I just realized (probably the unsuppressable beancounter's urge to add up things) that your top grass mix totals 98% and your bottom grass mix adds up to 97%. What's up with that?????

Engineers don't feel the need for everything to add up to 100%.

If you include the small % of weed seed and inert material, it probably comes to 100%.

Damn bro'...that looks really good. You gotta be happy with those results. The setting amongst the trees really tips the back to nature scale.
Awesome job! Now I want anudder one.

Actually SLEPT IN yesterday before working a half-day. We got about 3/4 of the mulching done - we added more seed to the dam, shore around the pond, and the (topsoil added to) hayfield that drains most directly into the pond, them mulched all of them.

Today we will add seed to everything else. Remaining mulch will go on the 2nd reworked hayfield that drains into the pond; I will re-drag everywhere else we add seed to to roll it into the ground.

For those who haven't ever seen one, here is the mulch chopper/blower we rented from the local Soil & Water (NRCS to you!) office ($60 "per day", which amounts to a 4 day weekend for us ) ready to go and in use.

Any updates for us? I love seeing the pictures everyone posts.

Pond Girl:

See continuation in My Second Pond: Structure

Mrs. Gallus spotted this tonight while we were gleaning the clay talus pile for rocks. It's not a meteorite, but it does look like something that re-entered the Earth's atmosphere (see second reference photo). DIED, how much can you get me for a gen-u-wine alien spaceship? $0.25 of it is yours!

Nice find Theo..... We had 27000 yds of dirt moved and we only found the back end of an alien spaceship..