umbrella to shade pond - $71.00. Marital harmony - priceless
 

I should have called it, "finally winning one in the 'dueling ponding style'
wars" - priceless. Don't know if anyone has taken note of the sporadic
posts I have made concerning the clash of the ponders in our home, but
suffice it to say, I was happier as the Designated Ponder. We battle algae
more with the koi pond, as opposed to the water garden - type of pond
because the koi eat up the plants. I admit to being stubborn in not wanting
the mechanisms of things to show, so I don't want netting and wire and such
over my planters. To me, if you can see it, and it isn't attractive, you
haven't gained anything, even if you "solve" the problem. To that end, I am
eternally grateful not to have any predator problems. I like to think that
the straight sides and high traffic location are partly responsible. I
don't know what I would do if I needed to net my pond.
All of which brings me to the current problem solved over the weekend. Our
running battle with direct sunlight was a real sticking point between DH and
myself. He wanted a cover that sat on top of the pond rim but would be easy
to remove when desired. His words were, "You'd only have to cover it during
the day" - when he's not home to see it anyway. Visitors love to see and
feed our fish, as the pond is right at our front door. I could just see the
tackiness of having to heave the thing off to show anyone our fish. A
raised cover, built by us looked like the only way, but we couldn't come up
with an attractive, economical way to cover 9'x13'. The occasional high
wind was another part of that equation. - So! We finally saw one of those
nice, angled, weighted base umbrellas at Home Depot that looked really nice.
It is attractive in front of the house and is easy to take down in bad
weather. It also shades a huge section of the pond from every angle. We
couldn't have begun to build anything that nice for 71.00. And, it was
quick to assemble. Problem solved, and we didn't have to use MasterCard.
; )

umbrella to shade pond - $71.00. Marital harmony - priceless
 

pictures?

"Ann in Houston" wrote in message
.com...
.. - So! We finally saw one of those
nice, angled, weighted base umbrellas at Home Depot that looked really
nice.
It is attractive in front of the house and is easy to take down in bad
weather. It also shades a huge section of the pond from every angle. We
couldn't have begun to build anything that nice for 71.00. And, it was
quick to assemble. Problem solved, and we didn't have to use MasterCard.
; )

umbrella to shade pond - $71.00. Marital harmony - priceless
 

pictures?

Here is the umbrella I use. :-)

http://southernpatio.com/ssmpages/SSMSouthButter2.html

Lori

umbrella to shade pond - $71.00. Marital harmony - priceless
 

Lori,

Now that is what I call Cool!!

Nedra
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118
"Lori" wrote in message
...

pictures?

Here is the umbrella I use. :-)

http://southernpatio.com/ssmpages/SSMSouthButter2.html

Lori

umbrella to shade pond - $71.00. Marital harmony - priceless
 

Now that is what I call Cool!!

It is! Love mine....but you do have to anchor it well, somehow. I
bolted mine to the deck. :-)

umbrella to shade pond - $71.00. Marital harmony - priceless
 

Lori wrote in message . ..
pictures?

Here is the umbrella I use. :-)

http://southernpatio.com/ssmpages/SSMSouthButter2.html

Lori

Ours is also called a Butterfly, but it is slightly different. Also,
it is turning out to be a bit of a problem regarding wind. The kids
knew it was raining, but not that the wind was blowing. I came home
and found it slightly jammed against the garage wall. Doesn't seem to
be too much damage, but I don't know what to do when school starts and
no one's home to go and close it down if a storm comes up.
Ann