The backyard pond

I built the backyard pond the summer I retired, I'd been wanting one for some time but was smart enough to know I needed an extended period to actually do the building.

Let me tell you, a backyard pond is not for sissies!

If you are contemplating one, you can't do too much research, but I've never regretted it, even with the work of the upkeep. I never thought of fish as pets but the goldfish inhabiting the pond watch for me to come out of the house and they all gather at the edge, anxiously swimming in place, eyes fixed on me, "Are you going to feed us??"

I had an email once that had different facts, one of the 'facts' was a goldfish has a memory span of 15 minutes, to that I say, "Horse hockey!" 

I've always had singing toads in the pond who laid a plethora of eggs and hatched hundreds of toadpoles who developed into tiny baby toads. Suddenly, last year, a frog appeared in the pond, then another, then another until one time I counted 6 frogs. They lived over the winter and have become used to me being out and about so I'm able to take pictures. The odd thing is, this year I have no toads, do toads and frogs not co-habitate in a small pond?

I fed the fish one day and one of the frogs was drifting in the water, the fish were swimming around and under him and he never blinked an eye.

My friend, Elizabeth asked if I ever saw the frogs on one of the lily pads and I told her no, then the frog made a liar out of me when I was out working on the pond!

I've never had a collie who liked water, they always cringed when I tried to bathe them, Murphy is the exception, she LOVES water! To her the pond is one big collie water dish that she can also cool off while drinking.

Some people drink raspberry or some other flavored water, Mollie got goldfish flavored as they swam around her nose.

"Are you going to feed us??"