Fishy play

When I first moved here ten years ago this August, I had water and hydro put out to the drive shed for the horses. Not paying too much attention to the way the contractor was doing things, I found afterwards that the trenches hadn't been sorted into topsoil and heavy red clay (of which we have an abundance).

So it all got jumbled together when they were filled. I decided that since after a year, nothing much was growing there, I would put in a pond. I began to dig.

I had help from a couple of neigbhouring teens, who thought it a lot of back-breaking hard work... and it was... so the hole in the ground sat for a few years and filled with thistles - some magnificent ones at that, daisies, chicory, dandelions, grass and an assortment of frogs, mice etc. And it wasn't a big hole! But still I let it sit. Mrs. Putoffski my brother calls me - he's right  - sometimes!

Three years ago I was more than slightly disgusted that I had left it - and so began to dig again. After a while I got tired of cutting out the weeds' huge roots and decided it was deep enough at about three feet... of course by the time I added sand, an old rug from renovating the bedrooms and the liner, it was about 2 1/2 feet but I didn't care.

That summer 46 or so frogs filled the pond in August's blistering heat sitting on the meagre few plants I'd bought to decorate it.

Last year I added seven small goldfish, saving them from being breakfast for some larger fish... feeder fish they're called... well not in my pond - they're the ones that get fed! I didn't see them that summer after they were released. Water hyacinth covered the pond and apparently there was enough to eat there already.

In fall after the first frost, the water hyacinth all died and I cleaned them out. I could see the fish and worried that they wouldn't survive the winter. I had already installed a bubbler...but I worried nonetheless.

Those of you who have followed this blog, know that I fretted over the fish off and on. But the ice build up, the air under the ice from the bubbler and the snow on top kept everyone happy and in a state of semi-hibernation.

That's hardly the case now. They play in the bubbles from the fountain.  In hot summer days I'd like to do that too! Wouldn't you? Here's to playing like fishes wherever you are, just plain having fun and enjoying life!