Click any photo to enlarge

Friday, October 12, 2018

Very discouraged

Yesterday I pumped the water from the stucco tank and didn't see any major holes, just lots of little pinholes. I don't think that's enough to cause it to lose so much water. There could be a bigger hole in the bottom, but in order to determine that I'd have to totally drain it, let it sit for a couple of weeks until the 6" of mud dries out, and clean out the dried mud. Not doable. Too bad the worn out tank couldn't have lasted another 10 days. Then I could pump the water into the new tank and let it dry out good. I'll still need to use it as much as I can, but shouldn't ever be under pressure to hurry and patch it. As it is, I'm losing a foot of water a day. By the time I get the water pumped back in it, it'll only be half full. I'd have been better off to not drain it at all and just suffer the water loss until I get the new tank. I figured there was a big hole that I could patch quickly and refill it. I've been using hydraulic patch on the pinholes today but unable to stop them from leaking. Tempted to just refill the tank and live with the holes. So stressful!

There's a big cold front coming Monday and lots of birds are surging ahead of it. Got some of the wintering White-crowned Sparrows, and lots of other birds but no time to look. Here's a Vesper Sparrow.


The mistletoe berries are ripe and I heard the Phainopeplas at them all day today. I've hated how the weeds are taking over the pathways at the oasis, but no time to worry about it, or energy to mow them. Not priority. But when the mallows bloom, it does look lovely. Just worried about snakes with the vegetation encroaching onto the paths.


Oodles of butterflies, but just the ordinary ones. Very few dragonflies.

Red Admiral
Southern Dogface

No comments:

Post a Comment