It’s kind of like the fable about the grasshopper and the ant. The last two weekends were pretty nice temperature wise and we probably should have disconnected all the pumps and valves. But, we didn’t think it was going to get incredibly cold overnight and the pond digger is trying to let his broken rib heal. Well we ended up starting up the outdoor fire and working in really cold weather yesterday (the 20s) and today felt almost balmy, just above the freezing mark.  We had some frozen pieces that we had to defrost indoors before putting up for the season.

Not having a cover over the equipment pits had us worried since we need to protect the equipment from the lovely Minnesota winter conditions. We decided to create temporary shelters out of wood and clear vinyl sheeting. For a little under $150, we built two covers. Actually the pond digger let me play with the miter saw and power drills to build the shelters. Once in place, he secured them to a frame created around the equipment pits. (The pond digger is willing to work in the dark to finish our project…as long as it’s in between football plays).

We still have more work to do but these shelters will let us do a little more work for longer even if it snows. And according to the weather channel, we should be getting snow for Thanksgiving!