To add to the previous message...I did the 98% water change over a 3 day period with no fish loss and mixing the tap water with the old water until almost a 85% flush of the water...I've did this numerous times in the past with smaller ponds with great results...this is the second time doing that this summer...but the first with adding beneficial bacteria after the fact....I would never risk those fish if I thought I would harm them....I have lava rock...cut up garden hose..quilt batting...and comforters for filtration in the 55 gallon drum behind the waterfall..thinking about adding uv light and a skimmer next...I have a 640 gph pump and a 3200 gph pump running into the filter...close to 1" line....hoping the beneficial bacteria kicks in soon...and will continue to add more plants.....thanks once again for the kind comments...Dave

I knew what you meant, but would have probably gone back and corrected it had I typed it too! I do feel lucky to have her... and insane. Izzy has been an exceptional nanny. Jaz isn't feeling too well these days, but when she does feel up to interacting, she's enjoyed the pup too. Here's a short video of Izzy and Tullie shredding rope toys in the back yard earlier today. (Ignore the unkempt nature of my back yard... the mosquitoes have been too bad for me to spend any time out there tidying things up this year...) Izzy & Tullie

Ilene, Well, from being married to a professional law enforcement officer for 27 years now and having a son who is a professional firefighter, I can tell you that there are many reasons different people resort to arson. Sometimes it is truly criminal--to cover up another crime like a theft, burglary or murder. Sometimes it is all about power and control--the arsonist likes creating havoc. Sometimes it is revenge against somebody for something real or imagined. Sometimes it is (and this sickens me) firefighters, volunteer or professional, who like to set fires so they and/or their departments can rush in, put out the fire, be heroes and 'save the day'. One estimate is that up to 45% of arsonists are affiliated (past or present) with some sort of firefighting organization. Finally, there is a (hopefully small) percentage of the population that gets a sexual high from starting fires although I cannot imagine how or why this occurs. As landowners/homeowners who lives in a very dry county where a high percentage of the acreage is grassland, we must always be vigilant about keeping tall grass and brush cut short in fire years. I practice some firewise landscaping practices, but not as strictly as I would if I lived somewhere like the dry parts of California. Strangely, I worry more about my veggie garden burning than about the house and outbuildings burning. My veggie garden has a lot of material that would burn--the wooden edging around all the raised beds, the cedar entrance arbor, the back gate, and the mulch which is a combination of chipped wood, old hay/grass clippings and shredded leaves. If the house burns, it and everything in it are insured for "replacement cost". If the garden burns, it is back to square one and starting all over again from scratch. And, of course, the garden is more likely to burn because it is surrounded by grassland, whereas the house and outbuildings have a rye grass envelope around them that is mostly green (hard to keep it looking good in this dry weather) and they have the gravel driveway and parking areas that would help slow down fire too. As far as I know, there's only been one fire dept. in our county paged out to fight a fire since the 4 alleged arsonists were arrested....and that fire was in the Lone Grove area in Carter County, not in Love County, so the dept. in question went to provide mutual aid. As for arsonists, they exist everywhere but I do think there often are more of them in smallish towns and sparsely populated areas. It boggles my mind that people resort to arson and, I have to tell you, the 4 young men arrested over the weekend are lucky it was the police who got their hands on them first. More than one volunteer firefighter from our county (and not just the young, hot-headed ones either) had plans to beat some sense into the arsonist or arsonists if they caught them setting a fire. Now that it is quieter here, and I am not spending all those hours in the kitchen cooking and baking so I can feed the firefighters, maybe I can get my Christmas stuff done and get back out to the garden a little more. Dawn

You've done really well with this steal of a deal!