"What was I thinking?" That is the pondering thoughts today! I knew cleaning my big ponds was not going to be easy, but did not realize it would be this much work! I have not cleaned them in 4 years due to health challenges, but still was not prepared for this. I figured there would be a couple of inches of muck in the bottom of the ponds, but as we pumped the water with a sump pump, we soon realized it was much deeper. It was more like 8 inches of muck! We started using 5 gallon buckets to scoop out the muck, but quickly realized that it would take hundreds of buckets to get it all out, and my back was not ready for that. So as I pondered the situation, it became evident that I needed to go to the tool rental company and rent trash pump. So off I went to search for my "dream machine!" I called and they said they had one and would hold it for me so off I went. I had never rented one before so I was not sure what to expect, but I was not willing to "bucket" the pond clean.
The pump had two hoses, an intake hose and a outflow hose, each were 2 inches in diameter, so I thought it would be simple and quick. What was I thinking? The leaves, sticks, and other pond bottom junk, as well as the mud continuously stopped up the intake hose, and it had to be opened back up. Slowly, we removed the muck. By the end of the day my helper and I knew we were tired, and that tomorrow we would both be very sore. But at least we had one pond done!
Tomorrow we will tackle the second pond. We have the trash pump already on hand, (I had rented it for 4 hours but was told that if I needed it longer they would just change it to the day rate, so we kept it for tomorrow's use.) Instead of needing it for 4 hours, I needed it for 4 hours for the one pond. Once the second pond is done, I anticipate that I will keep them clean by cleaning them annually, as I did before the last four years. The ponds will be ready for my new koi which I will be getting on Friday!
Miscalculating, but always "pond"ering!