My goodness, today was beautiful! So beautiful, in fact, that I just could not stay inside and do housework! The gardens were calling my name and I yielded to the whim to escape to the fresh air and sunshine! On the agenda today.....clean out the little pond in the backyard, fertilize the fruit trees and attempt to design the herb garden. Yep, there was a lot going on today! I asked Son which he would like to do..as if I did not already know which he did NOT want to tackle. He opted to fertilize the trees..rats..I knew he would never choose the pond! Well..I donned the oldest shoes and jeans that I own and set to work. This is never a really difficult job, it is more or less just a smelly job. I have a pump that siphons all of the water in just a short time so that makes life a lot easier. The smelly part comes from the rotted leaves and plant matter that has settled in the bottom over the winter months. I never clean the pond during the cold months so that the turtles and frogs will have enough warmth to survive. There are always several of each that hide in among the Water Lilies and Duck Potatoes. Here they have protection from the raccoons and the rotted vegetation gives them a nice hibernation spot. Today though, I never thought about the frogs or turtles ..I was a woman on a mission! I wanted the pond clean and nice smelling for the Spring! It was time to catch a few of the bull minnows from the Bayou to restock this little pond. I always toss a few minnows in for the duration of the summer merely to eat the mosquito larvae. They do well in the isolated pond since there are few predators nearby. Later, in the Fall, I release them back into the Bayou so they will not perish if the pond freezes. But for today, I just needed to remove the nasty debris in the bottom. 
I gathered my tools and set the pump in action. With the garden rake, I fished out the large clumps of Water Lilies and set them to the side. They would be replaced as soon as I refilled the pond. Next, I lifted out the large pots of Duck Potatoes..OH GEEZ! Those were heavy! I had forgotten that I put rocks in the bottom to weight the pots...UGH! Now for the stinkies! No nice, neat way of doing this..I guess..so I just rolled up the sleeves and started. Handfuls of yuck were thrown out onto a pile. Oooey-goooey, nasty yuck!!!! Hey...did you know that there are worms that can live under water in the goop in the bottom of a pond???? I found them...not happy.... I continued...grab ...heave....slop.... gasp!!!! This stuff is the proverbial pond scum only worse! I was digging in sludge...I was mucking about in mire...I was EEEEEEEKKK!!!!!! Something started squirming about in the handful of junk that I was holding! Visions of anacondas ...alligators ...crocodiles... raced through my mind! I was going to be eaten alive! Not really..but it did startle me a bit! I tossed the handful onto the ever-growing pile and peered at the smelly mess. Then I spied the wiggly varmint! I have friends in low places.. all the way down in the bottom of the pond!
A Leopard Frog! This small frog peered back at me from among the leaves and slime. He appeared to be still quite groggy or at least maybe lethargic from the coolness of the morning. I thought.. "So.. my fine, froggy friend.. you are the ricocheting reptile that tried to scare the bejeebies out of me!" He stared at me with unblinking eyes. I think he was a mite miffed at me for disturbing his nap but I tried to convince him it would be ok.. "I am just cleaning up a bit..don't mind me..go on about your nap!" I said cheerfully. He stared at me as if to say.."I liked my house the way it was! LEAVE NOW!" I might be glad that frogs cannot talk! I finished cleaning the gunk out of the bottom of the pond.. replaced the plants ..added a few pieces of driftwood and started the refilling process. Mr. Frog never left his spot on the rubbish pile.. he just sat and stared (or glared) at me. After a couple of hours, the sunshine warmed the water enough that I figured he would be ok and since I needed to haul off the lovely pile of goo..I tossed my friend back into the pond. He seemed quite contented to swim around exploring the new arrangement.
No comments:
Post a Comment