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!

Love is in the Air!

  So far, we have had a most delightfully cool spring albeit a wet one filled with thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes.  I fully expect that our summer will not be much easier and we will see our share of tropical systems move ashore.  As long as they are not too overly powerful, I am good with a storm or two.  They clear the air.  Speaking of air, love seems to be bouncing about the clouds right about now.  Birds are nesting more rapidly after clearing the nest of fledglings, squirrels are popping out litter after litter and the frogs seem to think there is no end to childbearing.  

  After a few days of drier weather, we had a day of thunderstorms.  This not only gave the garden a good soaking, it called out all of the frogs and toads on the hill.  Last night was a regular cacophony of chirps, croaks and trills.  I shook my head at the clamor since I knew what all this meant.  Sure enough, the frog pond is filled with eggs once again.  There is barely enough space for the lily pads!  I even had one pair of American Toads deposit eggs in a water filled flower pot!  

  At least these are all good for the garden and will perhaps cut down on the myriad of mosquitoes that also love this rainy season. I am good with the frogs and toads inhabiting the area, although, there was a time when the racket they make at night, irritated me.  The din made it almost impossible to sleep with the windows open.  The kids and I used to go out with nets to scoop up as many frogs and toads as we could catch. These were moved to my brother's pond (without his knowledge, of course!) but the next night, they would come hopping back home.  I could not get rid of the critters!  Once I came to that realization, I decided to quit fighting it and sit back to really listen.  Instead of a racket of critter noises, I began to hear a beautiful serenade.  More importantly....I realized that I should be thankful.....I COULD HEAR!  Since that evening, the frogs and toads have had free rein in the pond, hence, it became known as the Frog Pond.

  With the number of eggs, tadpoles and frogs/toads that now abide here, I am surprised that there have not been more territorial squabbles in the pond.  There have been a few but not enough to cause worry.  If it comes to be a problem, some will be relocated...far, far away!  In the meantime, I will just enjoy life as it is even if it means noisy nights!

How to make fake frog eggs and pond scum!

Months and months ago, I promised my sweet grandniece that I would let her have a party at the Little Bayou House.  A small group of her friends always get together in the Fall for a bit of enjoyment.  Because these kids are well-behaved, I consented.  The trouble is..I want this party to be one she remembers.  I want her to have a great time here.  So....Michael and I have been working our fingers to the bones to prepare.  I have written a "clue hunt" complete with a book-like back story.  This clue hunt is not going to be your average "go look there" type event.  Each clue is very vague and leads to a puzzle of some sort. They will gather items that might prove to be useful at each destination. Without these items, a few of the clues cannot be obtained. Other clues might just be some item with no written clue.  As an example, the first clue is an empty box.  That is it.  Hmmm?  Well, by being observant, I hope they can get into the locked house with that empty box.  It will take a good bit of ingenuity just to unlock the door!  Since these are older teens, I am positive that they will do well.

While she was here, Elizabeth and I went shopping for Halloween decorations but also items for this party.  I needed a few props that I did not have on hand.  One of the clues takes the kids outside to gather some clues and needed items.  To find one item, they will have to search..ummm..a "water feature".  Yep, that is about as bad as it sounds.  In creating this, I needed to replicate frog eggs.  I did not care to use real eggs since some will most probably be flung from the pond with a chorus of "Ewww"s!  The question was..how do I replicate frog eggs?  Elizabeth and I went on a quest and I do believe we might have solved the problem!

The small pack of water beads will make a nice bowlful when hydrated.

Water Beads!  These are some weird little beads that when soaked in water swell to unbelievable sizes!  They are about the size of a pin head when you open the pack but when hydrated, grow to about the size of a marble.  The beads come in a variety of colors including crystal clear. Most of the time, these are used in floral arrangements.  Not here!  Here these little gelatinous beads will become frog eggs!  I chose the clear ones to use as the frog eggs but bought a few green and blue ones to use as "filler".  Both colors turned out to be most brilliant and not something that you would find in an abandoned pond.  With a little bit of playing, we found that the beads will change color by using something besides clean water.  Our first experiment..(yeah, it is weird) was to use coffee.  Only because this was in the middle of the night and we were already on about our fourth pot of coffee.  It only seemed natural that the beads might like to have a little caffeine, too!  The coffee did make the most beautiful pond slime green beads when used to soak the lime green ones. Success!  Who needed to try anything else when coffee did the trick.  Never underestimate the virtues of a cup of coffee during any problematic instance!  It is the best!

The bright green water beads were hydrated according to instructions.  We wanted "pond scum" green so we experimented and hydrated with coffee!  It worked!

Now I have my pond scum and frog eggs..albeit..definitely infertile frog eggs. They do lack the tiny black dot of a tadpole in the middle!  Still, it will be dark and the water will be murky, so these should give at least the idea that some frog decided to visit the little pond.  Beneath all of these "eggs", some well placed hyacinths and some matted, stringy moss, the searchers will pull out some random item.  Whether this item proves useful or not is yet to be seen.  The whole point of this segment of the clue hunt is to provide pure entertainment..at least for me as the spectator! 

The clear water beads do bear a resemblance to frog eggs except for the fact that they do not have a "tadpole" inside!

With only a few weeks left to prepare, Michael and I have kicked it in gear and almost have everything prepared.  He still has to build an outdoor shelf and my water feature.  This should not be overly difficult since I have requested that for the water feature, he use an old porcelain kitchen sink that came from Mom and Dad's place.  This and the shelf will become permanent additions to the Rose Garden.  The shelf will be used to grow herbs and the sink as my potting area...minus the make believe frog eggs!

*Now..as a note..these water beads are great fun!  It is almost impossible to walk past a bowl of them without sticking your hand in the bowl to swish them around a bit!  But...word of warning!  There are a couple of things that you never..ever..never do with these little beads!  No matter how much you are tempted to "thump" one...DO NOT!!!  Nope..contrary to what you may believe would happen to a water infused bit of gelatin, they do not explode into a shower of water droplets.  They break alright..into a billion and one tiny fragments of squishy ooze that is almost impossible to grasp.  Picking them up off the floor is quite a task...ask my son who had the irrepressible urge to thump one.  Michael spent the better part of an hour trying to corral all of the pieces.  Warning number two...NEVER DROP THEM!!  They do not splat.  They go on a bouncing frenzy around the room.  There is no stopping the things!  They bounce everywhere!  Then, as before, they are almost impossible to corral!  Other than that..enjoy!