Keeping cool.............

Our three little goldfish ponds full of koi, goldfish, black "bug-eyed" goldfish, and various mixtures (two albinoes) at the back deck are the only things around here this week that are keeping cool outdoors! DH put in one pool abut 6 years ago for one of his "projects", and because he'd gotten the pre-shaped pool for $4.00 at a yard sale. We had forgotten how hard the ground around the yard/house is, and how full of rocks and tree roots.
But after attacking the hole with the back-hoe, tractor, ax, shovels and anything else we could find, we finally got the hole large enough so that half the pool insert was actually down below ground level.........the other half is above ground, because we also didn't think of how slanted our entire yards are............downhill ! Duh. He's not a quitter, though. We got the pool in, got some water lilies and hid the ugly black edges of the pool with grasses that stay
green year-round and pretty field rocks from all over the farm. Voila! One beautiful goldfish pond. A neighbor who sells fish bait minnows gave us a few gold minnows (one's still here!) and DH added some Walmart fishes and we've watched them grow. When a couple of our dear friends moved away from Warrenton, they gave us their koi fish which were just gorgeous and huge and beautiful !!! Every few years DH gets another wild hair to put in another pool, a little larger than the rest.
You'd think he'd get tired of putting heating elements in for them in the winter, and cleaning out the aeration filters OFTEN during the summers, but he loves them and the projects. On spring and fall days I can sit in my rocking chair on the screened-in porch and read and listen to the water trickling over the little waterfalls. But in winter and this hot summertime weather you won't find me out there.............I'll be reading or beading or napping indoors with the air conditioner making its beautiful noise!
P.S.......be sure to click and enlarge the photos............