Why thank you, Digger! If it wasn't for the pond forum, my husband and I would never have dreamed we could take a project like this on. We've learned huge amounts from the observations of the ponders who've shared their joys and heartaches here. It's a fabulous resource. Karen, there were days when I really felt overwhelmed and wondered if we'd *ever* get it done. As to its size, one of the things I read over and over here at the forum was that folks always felt they made their first ponds too small, so this pond is 23' long and at its widest it's 14' across. The deep end is just over 4 feet, the shallow end is 2 feet. No fish right now. I wanted to spend the first season just learning how to get the water stable. Lots of life in the pond, though--endless tadpoles, plus salamanders have bred in it. It's great to be able to watch salamanders. I'm thinking that when I do get fish I'll go with shubunkins--the beauty of koi, but a tougher fish. We have 25 acres, but have only cleared one acre and will stop there. A significant hunk of this valley has been bought by the Nature Conservancy to create a green corridor for wildlife between Quebec and Vermont. When Paul and I moved here (he grew up in this valley, but I'm a city girl) there wasn't the wildlife we see now--lots of deer, wild turkeys, some moose and now a bear. Not so thrilled by the bear which was cheeky enough to walk up on to our front porch three weeks ago. I'm still in shock over that one. I cracked up when you said you'd asked your husband to toss you under the pond liner when the day comes. Too funny :) Have you posted pictures of your yard here? If you have, could you point me to them? I'm always looking for inspiration :)

Air exchange heat pumps are only good, ( operational) to -10c. They start to bite at +5c, but are as efficient, ( the newer models) as geothermal for cooling, and for heat, within their designed operating range. Unfortunately, they use an electric heater as back up for when the temps fall below their operating range, and due to its small size and the inherent design, it is much less efficent than even proper electric baseboard heat at those temps. Geothermal are better in colder weather than heat pumps, because rather than trying to draw heat out of cold air, are drawing heat out of cool, (56 degree) soil. Other than the medium, (air vs. earth), there is little difference between geothermal and air exchange in the operating equiptment, ( compressors, exchange units, etc). The motors as yet, are major power consuming AC units, not the ultra efficient DC motors, but due to the source of the heat, geothermal is the most efficient source of electrically powered heating. With geothermal, you either need a lot of space to run a surface grid, or pay the costs of deep drilling to sink the coils in wells. Personally, the best method of heating, IMHO, is evacuated tube solar hot water radiant heat, backed up in colder climes with a demand hot water heater like a Bosch, with the thermostat set on cool, with passive solar for the day heat- evening gains. We face west, and being off grid, use evacuated tube solar hot water radiant heat, cycled through a electric hot water heater, converted to 24dc, that burns the excess solar and wind production, circulated by a efficient solar powered DC pump on its own panel. Once I added in an automatic switch to control the pump, ( the solar panel in the winter, still produces power when the solar hot water tubes are no longer producing heat), we find that this system produces all our heat and domestic hot water from April to November. We get some passive solar assist in the afternoon. The system stops providing enough heat when the outside temps reach -15c or 5F so it is backed up with a demand propane hot water heater (a Bosch). The system still provides some heat, so from December to April, the solar tubes basically pre-heat the water for the Bosch. All told, I spent $3800 for the Sunda tubes, the solar panel and DC pump, and the pump control. The DC element for the electric hot water heater was another $400, but I had to "burn off" that excess solar power somehow, and using seemed better than dumping it to a light bar. The Bosch cost another $1500, and all told, the plumbing cost about $800. I also built a Russian mass heater, ( a huge airtight fireplace that uses a quick fire, like a rocket heater, to heat a large mass of brick and stone), which we use in the winter, to boost the temps above the thermostat setting of 65F. First however, before I built any of this, we installed new windows and doors, rock wool insulation, (R32 in the walls, R50 in the ceiling), radiant heat barrier, and resheathed the exterior over R10 foam board to provide a thermal break between the studs and the sheathing. I might actually have R42 or higher in the walls! BTW, earlier a poster suggested closing off some attic vents. Dont! The attic vents keep the air moving above the insulation and prevent moisture buildup in the attic. Close off your vents and you will trap heat in the summer, baking you out of house and home, and will trap moisture in the winter, reducing the effectiveness of your insulation, and of course, growing mold. Older homes, if anything, dont have enough ventilation in the attic. If you reinsulate an older home, first make sure that you have soffit vents and good ventilation. When you reinsulate or add insulation, make sure you keep your soffit vents free and clear. For a final trick, when all your insulation is in place, top it off with a radiant heat barrier like a mylar film over the insulation. This wont do much to keep you warm in winter, but will make a huge difference in keeping you cool in summer.

Please see my photo labeled Vermont Salamander in the photo part of nature.net. it was the only way i could post a pic. I would like to know what this little salamander is. found in a stream that leads into a river immediately. creature has snake-like head and very delicate small legs/feet. Has frills at neck area. giant black spots/area where eyes are.

Who knew there was such a thing as skin lightening creams? A new study on the prevalence of mercury in the environment was just released. As usual, things are worse than anyone thought. _____ "Mercury contamination is more pervasive in New England than researchers previously believed, according to a study being released today that indicates the toxic substance appears to be polluting the environment in ways that scientists previously did not think possible. The four-year study in Northeastern United States and eastern Canada also indicates significant levels of mercury in forest songbirds and other animals that researchers did not suspect were ingesting mercury. The study, comprising 21 papers being published in the journal Ecotoxicology, also identifies nine hot spots in the region, including in the lower Merrimack River area in Massachusetts and New Hampshire where mercury levels in animals such as brook trout, loons, mink, and eagles are alarmingly high. In some locations, the levels appear to be interfering with some species' reproduction. "The impacts of mercury go well beyond what anyone would have envisioned yesterday," said Michael Bender, director of the Mercury Policy Project in Vermont and cochairman of the state mercury committee, who was not involved in the study. "It doesn't look like there are any limits on mercury's reach." The $300,000 study, financed by the US Department of Agriculture's Northeastern States Research Cooperative, enlisted 50 scientists to analyze existing data of mercury in animals, soil, rivers, lakes, and streams. It also looked for the first time at mercury levels in such species as salamanders and songbirds in the region.For years, scientists and public policy makers have focused on mercury that is emitted from power plants and incinerators and falls into lakes and ponds, where it is easily converted into its toxic form when it interacts with bacteria in freshwater sediment. Across the region, pregnant woman and children have been warned not to eat many freshwater fish because the creatures can pass on the mercury concentrated in their flesh. (clip) But today's report indicates that the same type of toxic conversion may be happening on mountaintops and forests, with mercury falling out of the sky onto tree leaves and then dropping onto the moist forest floor. Tiny insects then take up the mercury, and as insects are eaten by larger creatures the mercury accumulates in greater concentrations up the food chain, said David C. Evers, executive director of the BioDiversity Research Institute who helped conceive the research idea with Tom Clair, of Environment Canada, that country's environmental protection agency. "These terrestrial systems have been completely overlooked," said Evers, who wants far more monitoring of the environment. "It's a complicated story, and we don't have all the answers yet." _____ Here is a link that might be useful: Boston Globe