Sounds like you have planned well, always subject to abrupt change of course. I like the water solution if it works. I believe you will find your water level taking a drop as it changes from liquid to ice. Planning well was not a part of my winter endeavor. The changing ice patterns are pretty cool. Depending on the volume and velocity of water from your stream or falls or whatever way the water enters your pond, an opening in the ice should be there. If not, the water will flow over the ice. You might consider an air pump/air stone set-up for a permanent opening if you have fish and as a convenient location for adding water. Here's hoping it all works out for you. You are prepared; do look out for those ice dams. I am envious of your up-coming experiment. My problem was largely caused by too much water in streams with falls--throw in my own naivety. I made no changes prior to winter feeling confident that the pump and intakes and pressure pipes would be fine as long as everything was working. I was really surprised how much water was needed as the ice formed. When I built the pond, my goal was to create a scene symbolic of influences in my life. These included rushing water and noise along with a clear, open pool of water. I chose a high-volume external pump that puts out 7500 gallons per hour, and created two streams down a natural slope. I had my goal. I kept the water depth stabilized and watched the ice form. You are right, it is fascinating and beautiful. And plentiful as it was an unusually cold winter with temperatures in the teens and lower for days on end. Since it was the holidays I illuminated the setting with red and green floods. About then an unease started as the streams and the falls into the pond began to ice over. I had been warned of ice dams but wasn't quite sure what they were or how they formed. And anyway, the water is flowing fine. What could go wrong? I found out at 3 AM one very cold night. For some reason I looked out a window at the pond and saw our adjacent patio covered with water. Sweats and a heavy parka (our thermometer read 16) along with heavy winter boots--out I went, partner a few steps behind. I could see the ice build-up on both streams and we began chopping away. As the flooding receded I stepped back into a large puddle. Ice had formed at the bottom and I was flat on my back in a couple of inches of water! I got up and immediately looked around to see if anyone saw me--yeah, lots of people out at 3 AM! Back inside, planning on shutting the system down. At daylight with the temperature still in the teens, we shut off the pump, disconnected the unions on the big ball valves that connect the pump and pressure lines, enabling everything to drain downhill and then disconnected the unions before and after the pump--the ones that were too tight the other day, drained and removed the pump. Nothing froze except us. If any of the unions had been too tight to open, it could have been a disaster. I think that the heavy flow of a significant volume of water down streams with multiple falls, caused spray that, while not a big deal in the summer, turned to ice as the water splashed into the frigid air. A low volume of water with reduced splashing seems now to be the way to a successful winter ponding. I suspect you may have to go outdoors(!) to change the volume of flow or to clear ice from time to time. In the telling many years later, it doesn't seem such a big deal except for the many nights of getting up and looking out for fear something would happen and then the actual event and aftermath. If you pay attention to where the ice forms and control it if necessary, no doubt you will have a grand experience with no puddles on a cold winter's night. Happy ponding, let us know how it goes. Mike

Came through ok here as well. Minor damage from winds, couple small trees down, some large limbs down are common. Winds only gusted up to around 50MPH here during heavy rain bands. Only knocked over my 5' windmill in its pot, but no damage. Bananas got a bit of shred, but not real bad. The water came up to the drain tops here, and moved up in the toilet some, but nothing like we saw before. We had sandbagged and prepared yesterday. IT figures we didnt flood. I would put money on it if we had not had the sand bags ready, we would have flooded massively. Just how things go it seems. LOL! Cute citty Jonnieb. I found my cat the night after Isabel went thru. I was helping my friend move into his new house in columbia heights, and i saw this tiny little dot in the yard. Just a couple ears sticking up. I approached but he ran away, but kept coming back, we put water in ice cube trays for him ( its all we had at the time) and he would come and drink, but was very skittish. I finally got him, no mother be found anywhere, no cat calling, nothing. We think his mother may have perished during the storm / flooding. He was flea ridden and terribly imaciated, just skin and bones really. I took him home that night, and took him to the vet the following week. At that point we did not know he was a boy, so I named him Isabel, after the storm. At the vet, the vet said to me.. well, Isable, IS A BOY! LOL! I had to bottle feed him with an eye dropper for a couple weeks. He weighed a whopping 6 ounces and completely fit in the palm of my hand, tail and all. The vet said he was likely the runt, and he was barely 4 weeks old. Hes now 5 years old as of the last week in august, and is a happy, healthy, but lean, and smaller house cat. Hes got the most beautiful ocean green eyes. Hes still got that "WILD" in him tho. He was after all a wild ferral city kitty. Heres a couple of pics of him.

This is a quote from a previous garden web posting: *******Safety of electric induction hobs questioned in Japan 'IH cookers generate electromagnetic fields [in the frequency range of 100Hz and 18-23kHz ] when an electric current flows through coils under the top plate. Heat is created when the electromagnetic field reacts with the metallic pan atop the plate. (For the young, whose more sensitive hearing will be able to detect this level, cooking using an induction hob could well be accompanied by a rather unpleasant whine). Whilst there is not a unanimous agreement that EMFs are linked to health problems, neither the government nor industry seems willing to make attempts to limit electromagnetic field exposure from IH cookers, both sides boasting of the products' safety, while saying it is the responsibility of the other party to communicate possible risks. Takenori Ueda, of the Japan Offspring Foundation which reported the finding earlier this year, added that IH devices emit the highest level of radiation among all household electric appliances. Microwave ovens are more powerful, but their emissions are countered by stronger shielding. The Foundation tested the hobs with a radiation measuring device placed right next to the cooker set on maximum heat with a 12-cm pan on it. All products registered incredibly high radiation levels, some as high as 101 microtesla. The highest level was more than 16 times the limit [for 18-23 kHz frequency] set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection for short-term exposure to such fields. The companies accepted the Foundation's findings but insisted that the ICNIRP guideline can be interpreted differently and that radiation levels do not exceed the limit when measuring devices are placed 30 cm away from the device. The Japanese government says that the industry or individuals should do something about it. The Japan Electrical Manufacturers' Association say that if there is to be a framework for more stringent safety measures regarding exposure to electromagnetic fields, the government should take the lead in drawing it up. A spokesman agreed that manufacturers have failed to provide consumers with sufficient information on electromagnetic fields. Koya Ogino, a Kyoto University lecturer who specializes in electromagnetic fields, and the potential adverse health effects from long-term exposure, criticized both the government and industry for not taking further precautions. 'If the companies are profiting by selling the products, they should first confirm their safety,' he said. The Japanese Government's defence is that they are awaiting 'more proof' of possible harm -- which is expected to be the result of 'current research' between the WHO (World Health Association) and the ICNIRP...... The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) is shortly to take on the task of writing a new ELF exposure standard for Australia. If they just incorporate the ICNIRP limits, which is very likely, will this then make the sale of induction cookers in Australia illegal?' Here is a link that might be useful: www.powerwatch.org.uk

you aren't the only one halina, if others want to rely on the for total profit scientific research that is up to them, for me my experiences tell me we rely too heavily on that sector to our detriment, to put it simply there simply isn't enough human trialling done on those medications prior to release into the retail network, and there is precious little or no research done into what may happen when multiple doses of multiple scripts are prescribed. it comes down to the relyance on test tube testing and the use of lab rodents of which us humans are neither. and yes all institute research is paid for through donations and all concerned know who's toes no to stand on when they take the research on. by using natural processes and returning to a more natural diet i have now gone from taking 8 prescribed doses of different applications to taking a low dose of only 2 medications and i now have no more need for diabetese 2 treatment and next to go will be hypertension, not bad for a 60 year old who was told by his medical doc that the rest of life would be run on ever increasing dosages of ever increasing doses. i was very proactive in my treatments once i worked out what was realy happening and why. that one of my medical doc's was also a naturapath helped a lot the others just have no idea or don't want to know. like one stand over doc at a hospital said to me "if it worked we'd prescribe it" yeh as if, there is no profit in it for the chem' boys that is why they don't prescribe. anyhow one of my favourite signature lines is "it works for me it may work for you", get proactive and do your own researching if you can read this then you are already on a pretty good network to find out things that you can make better decisions from. oh and my naturapath doc' doesn't load me up with lots and lots of yes dearer other treatments some i take all the time as routine (well that is what others do with prescribed things isn't it?) others i take for specific result over a specific time frame. len