It is very hot here. Again. This time, the extreme humidity DOES NOT HELP!!! Nonetheless, onwards with a hot August Medley of Events...
...dead fish kept appearing belly-up in the Fish Swimming Pool!!!
Mr. You thought it was our nieces, Junior Aquatic Terrorists for the entire four days of their visit. He said something about their possibly breaking the spines of the few gold-fish we have with the net we bought them for Euro 3. The objective was to scoop-up the dead leaves, not bludgeon the poor defenseless gold-fish. I remained dubious. Yet, one or the other always seemed to have the day-glo net in hand bashing the water. Hmmm?
To me, it was the water. It looks so scuzzy, murky, dim... thick, even. I mentioned this to a local Friend of Fish... she donated two gold-fish to Our Cause. They were dinner a couple of nights ago for the cats of the neighborhood. I didn't tell her this though she was the one who said... Nature is cruel... at dinner last Saturday night. We were at a village dinner, chowing down a superb sausage & beans concoction as a prelude to the main course of grilled meats!!! Yes, yum-yum. Our Fish-friend explained, what with the extreme heat for the past week, the fish food sort-of-kind-of spoils in the warm H2O. The next day, I tested the water while the mid-day sun blared down upon Our Fish Pool. HOT!!! HOT!!! HOT!!! Stinky too. Gads. We've been boiling Our Gold-fish to Death!!! I zipped-off straightaway to the local do-it-yourself center... Brico Center... pronounced Breeecoh Cent-errr... down in Aulla to buy an umbrella for Our Fish. Naturally, with most of the store's products imported from China, the umbrella selection was beyond Deplorable & Cheap. Escaping inside the air-conditioned warehouse-like store, I happened upon rolls of cane screens, ready to go!!! I called Mr. You for his opinion. It was seconded in a jiffy. And, so too the purchase. I spent the better part of this morning rigging branches, wired together to drape the cane-roll on top. So far, the water is relatively c-o-o-l. Maybe, Our Fish are SAVED!!!
...the Pavement-Guy is working on Our Oak Flooring...
That machine in the corner is one half of the stunningly heavy apparatus needed to brush the flooring to bring out the fine veining of the Romanian oak. Though the Upstairs Apartment is NOT AIR-CONDITIONED, there is a nice breeze. At least that!!!
...whereas, I labored in the Cortile painting saw-horses...
The medium afternoon temperature kicked at 105 degrees Fahrenheit!!! I thought it would be fun to paint each saw-horse in a different color from the vast array of pint paints cans from our Color Trials for the walls & doors of La Casetta AND Upstairs Apartment AND work-on My Tan!!! Nearly died of heat-stroke!!! I also put a near-toxic wood protective stain... horrifically expensive at $45 for less than a half-gallon, since naturally, it's a petroleum product. Multiply that by 3 and you have quite an expense!!!... on the old wood doors we used for the July 22nd wedding feast Mr. You & I hosted. All is ready for our next big party. Hey!!! It's tomorrow!!! 20 Folk with a predicted evening temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit. I know... I know... nothing says that I have to write out "Fahrenheit". However, in light of The HOT Temps, writing it out in long-hand seems more appropriate. I hate to say but... I cannot wait for Fall!!! Gads.
Dear Forrest,
ReplyDeleteI don't mean to stick my nose in your business but having built several small poned in the past which have had problems similar to what you have described, we have had success after installing a small airator. Like a bubbler in a small indoor fish tanks.I'm not sure if it would be difficult to find one in Italy, but it might greatly reduce the algae problem, add oxygen to the water and it would help cool the water as well. Just a suggestion. No reason to post this if you don't want to. Hope it helps.
Love your blog. Thanks for taking the time to share your adventures. It helps in keeping me focused on my own dreams of moving back home to Codiponte some day. 105 degrees, Gads!
Item # 37A of My Task List is to head to the mega-nursery over in Massa to see if there is such a thing as a photo-voltaic bubbler, as you suggested. If not, I'll have to wait for the electrical plant to be installed in the last part of La Casa Grande to run electricity to the Fish Swimming Pool. MIght be the time to put in some lights too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment and for enjoying my shenanigans with il Poggiolo.