It’s been 23 months since we closed on our farm…10 months that the koi have been living in a swimming pool in our garage…crossing our fingers that we are a few weeks away from a functioning outdoor pond. This morning our waterproofed cement pond floor was poured.
The preparation for the pour was looking pretty good on May 23rd:
Then we had some unfortunate weather. While we love rain, it wasn’t loving the work we had completed to that point. May 24th our pond area looked a little different…
The weather also set back the schedule for the concrete pour and our contractor scheduled a new date while we were not on the farm. We decided to trust that God would watch over the process and gave the go ahead to pour. I spent my morning in Minnesota watching the North Carolina pond floor pour on our Arlo camera. Thankfully, it looks good from what we can see.
Can’t wait to see the pond in person this weekend.
Greater Louisville Koi and Goldfish 25th Anniversary Show + American Koi Judges Association annual Seminar
Last weekend I was at one of the favorite events for koi keepers in the United States. The Louisville Koi Show is always so much fun and everyone is family. It’s one of those shows that is great to attend even if you’re not showing koi. Lots of vendor support, always a good banquet and plenty of high quality koi to appreciate (and buy). The awards were lovely and some really nice items up for raffle and auction.
The American Koi Judges Association (AKJA) held our annual seminar in conjunction with the Louisville show. Our annual seminar is an opportunity to discuss ways we can assist with koi keeping in the United States. We hear topical presentations from candidate judges and talk a lot about koi , judging koi, koi resources and koi keeping. This year, three student judges were introduced and I think they are going to be terrific additions to our group. It was really great to see friends, Gerald Ellison and Steve Zimmerman be promoted to certified judges. đ
The Louisville Koi Show staff also went out of their way to host the AKJA judges while setting up for their show. We were treated to a lovely evening river excursion, courtesy of Frank and Marian Wethington.
It was a weekend full of smiles and catching up with koi kichi from all over. I think the only time I frowned was in the Louisville airport when the Delta pilot came out and said “folks we have a problem with the electrical panel and we don’t know how long it will take to fix.” Then the crew walked away with all of their luggage in tow. I was lucky to find a plane ticket on American leaving an hour later and cancelled my Delta ride that was leaving about seven hours later.
what happens after you have sold your home with a koi pond…
Selling our home in Minnesota meant leaving our ponds that we had so much fun building and rebuilding. Sadly we knew that we might have to fill in both ponds to sell the house. We went ahead and bulldozed the sideyard pond and were prepared to fill in or compensate for future fill in of the large pond. Our buyers stated they wanted the large pond, even though they had never had a pond before. So we left a RDF, pumps, filters, etc and some detailed instructions.
Spring has returned to Minnesota and a friend sends me a text message that the pond is being sold off. I ask for the link and of course I can’t see the post because I have been blocked. Good thing the pond builder isn’t blocked and I have an alternate Facebook ID. Yes, the pond is not going to fit into the new owners’ landscaping scheme. Too bad they didn’t have this ‘ah-hah’ moment before closing. We would have removed all the pond equipment and made it easier for them to tackle new landscaping projects this spring.
The pricing was generous for the age and use of the equipment. I’m happy to say that the equipment went to a very good koi keeper for a very good price. The post received a little criticism for closing the pond…
After 24 hours of comments, the author updated the items for sale, took down the photo and reworked the post to imply it was their pond (which technically it is).
On a message thread with koi kichi, a good friend pointed out to me that everyone has their own opinion of what is beautiful and of value to them. His analogy was: “Once you dump a girlfriend, you can’t worry about who she dates.” We’re sorry to see this pond go, a little annoyed that they didn’t tell us sooner they didn’t want the pond so we could help them transition, but happy with our memories. We’re looking forward to our new pond build.
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