Tank work

Like everything else down here, cleaning the tank is a huge challenge. I worked all day pumping since only my little pump will fit in the water when the water level is this low. Had it pretty much all out and shortly thereafter came a nice rain of nearly half an inch. Put the water level back up to higher than before I started pumping this morning. Very discouraging.

And I'm so exhausted from setting up the pump and all the paraphernalia it takes, moving the hose from tree to tree, patching bad places in the tank, removing the pump and all the paraphernalia it takes to pump (hose, elect cord, boots, planks, basin to keep the pump out of mud, all my patching stuff, including a ladder), in and out of the tank endlessly. Then gathering all the paraphernalia up again and starting all over again.

Here's a photo of the guy I hired to help clean the tank. He's a great worker, but the task is overwhelming. The chances of getting the tank cleaned out this year are slim.  I can't start emptying it until I get a good rain so I have plenty of water in the stucco tank. That usually means rainy season is starting and it takes weeks for the tank to dry out. So it's probably an exercise in futility but I have to try.

During today's pumping.

The mud averages 4 to 6 inches deep, and none of it dry. That means it's heavy. To make matters worse, it's all a tangle of pondweed roots and stems. Terrible. Gonna have to get Hugh down here with his loader if it ever dries out enough.

After the first pumping, and after the rain when I started second pumping. 

Tomorrow I hope to be revived since I have to do more pumping, patching etc., then service feeders, then go to town to help my husband get ready for his annual fish fry. (He didn't have one last year because he didn't catch enough fish.) My new camera is awaiting me in town. When the tank gets either cleaned out or filled up, I should have time to enjoy the camera.