No energy = picture post.

     I am so tired that instead of writing a post I am going to do another picture post.  Then I am going to bed.

We have two frogs

     My neighbor’s son brought me three frogs that he found at his job site today.  Unfortunately one died tonight probably from the lengthy transport in a dirty bucket.  The kid means well but has no idea that a clean bucket and water from where he got them would’ve been wiser.  I feel sorry for the frog but after watching the other two munching down on mosquitoes tonight I am happy they are here in my pond.  The good news is they aren’t bullfrogs.

    You all have a good one!

The pond lilies are opening.

Really? More rain?

     All I can say is holy crap!  Another day of very little sunshine mixed with many thunderstorms and lots of rain.  I may never get a chance to snooze in my hammock again.  One day of sunshine in two weeks is a good reason for getting a life raft.

     My basement may never be dry again.  If I set up the hammock stand, it will likely sink up to its hooks.  When you walk in the back of the yard the mud sucks at your shoes like a black hole.  There has been so much mud tracked in that I could grow crops on the back porch floor.

     I swear the Koi have made a mud slide from the pond to the yard.

     You all have a good one.  I’m just hoping for a dry one.

Koi anyone?

Pond

     It saddens me, but I think we’ll have to give up the pond.  DH can’t do any of the work and I can’t keep up with what all needs to be done.  It breaks my heart because I love it so much but I need to cut back on some of the heavy work around here.

     We’ll have to empty it and fill it in.  Maybe I’ll put a screeened Gazebo in its place.  It would be a nice place to picnic or read and be protected from the bugs. 

     If you are in Eastern PA and could give some large, friendly Koi a good home , we need to talk.

Even my fish have me trained

 

     The dogs are spoiled.  I admit it they have us well trained.  DH claims that the Koi have me well trained too.  Can I help it if they love worms and I poke around next to the compost bin to find some so my fish can enjoy a snack?  It’s fun to have my lovely finny pets come to the surface and take the worms from my hand.

     Even our new little guy is getting into the act.  He was brave enough to take a worm from me last night.  Yes, I keep saying he in hopes that this new one is a male since the other six are females.  He still looks tiny next to them but he is growing rapidly.

It’s a frog!

 

     Last year we lost all of our bullfrogs to traffic or wanderlust on their parts.  We’ve only ever had bullfrogs, since bullfrog tadpoles were all we could get.  This year my favorite pond guy had native green frog tadpoles.  I bought a dozen and I’m thinking of going back for more since we lost four.

     I had a wonderful surprise when I went out to feed the fish this evening.  At least one of our remaining eight tadpoles has turned into a frog.  He is no bigger than a dime.  I’m looking forward to more and I hope they make noise this summer.

Another peek into my garden

 

     It’s amazing how a dozen tadpoles can so cleverly disappear into the pond.  They hide so well it’s a rare thing for us to spot one.  I did spy one hiding in the river tonight.  I can’t wait for them to become frogs.  It’ll be a real treat to have green frogs living here instead of the bullfrogs we’ve had so often.

     G has a bullfrog in her pond.  He’s been there several years, probably because he’s not as dumb as ours were.  Ours went walk about and several were run over by cars in the alley between our house and the cemetery hunting grounds.  Hers stays in their yard, catches starlings, and completely grosses her out by leaving the dead birds floating in the pond.  He seems to enjoy the EEK factor with her.

     Our new Koi seems to be settling in well.  It’s going to take some time before he is as big as the six girls he swims with now.  I keep saying he because I am desperately hoping this one is a male.

     I still have a bunch of plants to get into the ground even though I have planted some every day so far.

I love this weather

 

     It was hot outside yesterday and the dogs are quite spoiled by their Daddy’s need for air conditioning.  Patty spent the day sprawled out on the couch and Gavin alternated between his chair and the floor in front of the air conditioner.

     I spent most of the day outside planting some of my flowers and veggie plants and working on the pond.  I only came in to rehydrate and take the dogs out to pee.  Well, it was more like dragging the dogs out.  They didn’t want to leave the air conditioning.  DH and the dogs think I’ve lost my mind.  I hate to tell them that it took a walk a long time ago.

     I’ll be out working on the garden again today.  I need to weed along the back fence and get the rest of the tomatoes planted there.  Then on Tuesday, I need to buy more potting soil so I can put flowers in the pots out front and in the wrought iron stand that I brought home from the MIL’s house.

They MADE me do it

 

     The expression heard often yesterday by my dear friends was, “Why did I let you drag me here?”   G, her husband, and I went off on a money-spending spree (for me, not for them).  They took me to a bulk goods store they love to go to and I went over board–there was so much there I wanted to bring home.  The spices alone (cheap!) made me go hog-wild.

     If that wasn’t bad enough we then stopped at our favorite garden shop where, once again, I managed to spend like a drunken sailor on shore leave.   As I piled more flowers on my cart, I said once again, “Why did you drag me here?”  As if, I went along with them kicking and screaming.  Yeah, sure I did.  They had to hog tie me to take me along.  Now about that swampland in Florida you wanted….

     Then we went to the pond shop.  (No, no, don’t make me go in there!)  Damn it, he had two black Koi…now he has one and so do I….  I found green frog tadpoles for the pond and yep, brought home a dozen of them.

     Next time they invite me to go along on a jaunt, DH should handcuff me to the desk.

Picture day!

 

I took the camera outside this afternoon.

Welcome to robin central

 

     As the robins prepare for their migration south, my yard has become robin central.  Every day there are literally hundreds of robins in our three trees, on the ground, in the birdbath, and at the pond all vying for their turn to drink and bathe. 

     The other day I somehow managed to stretch the netting over the pond on my own.  The idea was to keep more leaves from getting into the pond.  Mother Nature had other ideas.

     Fifteen minutes after I had the netting in place, a robin flapped around on the pond trapped under the netting.  I freed it by showing him an opening and with some coaxing.  He wasn’t thrilled with me.  I had visions of things to come.

     When I crawled out of bed today, DH told me, “I had to set five robins free this morning.”

     It took a minute or two for that to register in my coffee deprived brain.  “From where?”

     “The pond, they were under the netting.  I lifted the edges in a few places so they can get out on their own next time.”

     “Oh, crap.  I thought I had enough openings for the idiot birds.  If we still had bullfrogs the birds wouldn’t swarm all over the pond.”

     Oh, yeah we’re getting more tadpoles in the spring.