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Monday, December 28, 2015

These could save your life



Two pieces of wood and a string.


And a sturdy nail into each end could save a life.




I love our pond... but not in winter.
See those footprints, they are heading straight for the thin ice.


  

Part of our pond never freezes, near the deep Spring where the water temperature is 65 degrees year round. 




After thinking long and hard we decided to lower the pond for the winter months. 




Large machinery and a friend with precise maneuvering skills made quick work of the task. 



He even cleaned out the ditches which carry the water to our fields.  
The water flowed so fast that many fish became stranded.  I gathered them into a bucket of water and carried them back to the Pond. 




An old farm Disk sat in one of the corners, getting in the way when harvesting our fields.  




Because the  equipment could only lift the Disk so far,




Our Friend backed up his big truck until it was level with the disk. He backed the truck into the machine (not the other way around) until it was swallowed up. 



When I asked him if he was going to use it as a "sculpture", on his farm, our Friend surprised me by saying that "he would see if he could make it work again". 
Not much is wasted in this small farm community.  



If you live near frozen waters you must have one of these in the ready.  Wear it around your neck and if you should fall through the ice, these handles can pull you up and on top of the ice.  




Just in case and nearby our pond, a boat for the open water, a rake to reach with and what could be a lifesaver...a simple string with two wooden handles. 



By opening the spillway, we lowered the pond by more than a foot.
Much safer.




Now only a small pool open for the ducks. 




It won't be long, the days are getting longer. There will be Spring.




 And Summer




and Fall, when I love my pond most of all.

Have a great week my dear 
Blogging Friends.

Gina




Partial repost January 2013



4 comments:

  1. Dear Gina,
    How have I missed all your recent posts? Must be the merrymaking of the past few days, despite the fact that the
    weather has been frightful in Texas. I see that even with a beautiful piece of land and a pond dangers lurk just
    around the corner.So nice to see that you are always considerate and make sure helpful tools are available should the ice break.
    Warm greetings, Sieglinde

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Sieglinde, The pond is a worry in the winter. We have minimized the danger by lowering the water by several feet. Because it is all open land stray animals could get into trouble. In the more than 20 years that we have lived here we have not had any incidents.
    Hope you're out of danger. Your weather has been fierce.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's going to be a while before the Central Park lake freezes...because so far we've not even had an overnight frost. Perhaps frost will arrive with the New Year. I do like the look of your rescue device. Hoping it will not be needed this winter.

    Our recent days have been grey and misty, foggy, even rainy. If a sunny afternoon makes an appearance, I expect to notice that ... yes, the sunlight hours have grown much longer.

    xo

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Frances, Do you get to skate on Central Park Lake?
    So far we have not had to use our "safety gadget". I know that every snowmobiler in Alaska carries these with them. They have saved many a life.
    Wising you lots of sunshine to accompany you on your walks.

    ReplyDelete