Almost Too Late!

  Well, I was almost too late!  Cleaning the Frog Pond is always something I try to do in the early spring.  Most of the time, the chore is done while it is still quite chilly even though I get rather wet.  Mucking around in knee deep water is a must if the water hyacinths are to be thinned.  Those things will clog up a pond rather quickly so each year, I pull out all but about a dozen or so.  That means two hundred make their way to the compost bin.  Hyacinths make excellent fertilizer so they do not go to waste.  That cleaning, however, is quite the undertaking and this spring, it has been delayed several times.  Last night, hundreds of toads and frogs could be heard raising their voices in their nightly serenade and love was being shared in the back yard.  The cacophony gave me a bit of a sinking feeling.  I was too late.

  This morning as soon as other chores were completed, it was time to get down and dirty with the pond.  The task was made even more difficult due to the fact that several clusters of toad eggs were already to be found woven in the roots of the water lilies.  This made it difficult to get the water hyacinths free and clear.  Several times, a decision had to be made.  Either a few eggs had to be sacrificed or masses of water plants had to stay. I did the best I could to save each strand.

  There was clearly no draining the entire pond as this would have damaged the eggs already there.  Half of the water was drained while the pond was refilling.  Hopefully, this did not disturb the eggs and the future toads and frogs will be happy with their somewhat cleaner abode.  I, on the other hand, appreciated the warm, sunny day as I was just about soaked to the skin with yucky pond water!  Oh, the things I do for the critters around this place!