This is the beautiful fish pond that we have enjoyed for the past three years. Until...the liner had a leak and the cost to fix the leak was the same as to fill it in. After a few months of deeply thinking it over, we decided to fill it in. You may ask, "Why would we want to fill it in?" There are a couple of reasons: it is a water hazard for the kids (I don't feel safe at all letting them play outside if I'm not with them) and the fact that every spring we have found a rather large snake skin close to the pond. Then, you factor in that I've seen a couple of grass snakes and some other kind of snake slithering in.
Oh, quick story...this is great! Sorry for those of you that have already heard it. Right after we decided that "yes, we are going to fill in the pond" I tried to fish out the goldfish...you know, I wanted to save them and let them go in the real pond down the street. So I got about 10 of them out and put them into a bucket. A couple of days passed and I went to check on the fish thinking, "I hope they're still alive. I really need to let them go in the pond, but there are so many still in our pond." Guess what...nope...they aren't dead...they aren't there. So, what happened to them? My neighbor later informed me that when he was leaving for work he saw a bird (not just any bird, but some kind of crane) in our backyard eating fish. I tried to save their poor lives and ended up killing them instead. So, that wasn't so quick and I've thought of another story.
As David and I are talking about the fact that I provided a feast for this bird, I see one of the fish that is still alive in the pond start to turn belly up and float to the top. How strange that it would die right there while we're watching. But, it doesn't just float to the top it starts to come out of the water and then I see this snake that has it's mouth over the mouth of the fish trying to sufficate it. For some reason, the snake let go of the fish and it survived...at least I think so. Well, that sealed the deal...bye bye fish pond!
While I was at the beach for Mother's day, David, our neighbor (Kitwana) and Matt Shirley started tearing up the pond. David was going to save the beautiful purple irises for me, but when he pulled up one of the stones two HUGE snakes were curled up underneath it. They went into the pond and could not be found. So, being guys and wanting to have a little fun, the guys decided to try to burn the snakes out. GROSS! By the end of the day, David and I decided that there were 5 different snakes that we had seen and who knows how many more.
By the way, David said they all screamed like little girls when he pulled up that stone.
We just had the dirt delivered today. So, we decided to let the kids have a little bit of fun. Kelly decided she was queen of the hill and Kyle had his shovel and worked just like Daddy.
All of these pictures are blurry because Kyle was having so much fun that I could not get him still for a second.
I can't believe how much Kelly was into it. She was sliding down the side of it and climbing all over. I guess this princess doesn't mind a little dirt.
Well, this wraps it up. The kids are both sound asleep after having some extra scrubbing in the tub. Their clothes are soaking in the sink and calling my name. I'll update after we lay the grass and it's all "pretty". Oh, notice the burned leaves on the Japanese Maple (to the left) in the picture below.
This is the beautiful fish pond that we have enjoyed for the past three years. Until...the liner had a leak and the cost to fix the leak was the same as to fill it in. After a few months of deeply thinking it over, we decided to fill it in. You may ask, "Why would we want to fill it in?" There are a couple of reasons: it is a water hazard for the kids (I don't feel safe at all letting them play outside if I'm not with them) and the fact that every spring we have found a rather large snake skin close to the pond. Then, you factor in that I've seen a couple of grass snakes and some other kind of snake slithering in.
Oh, quick story...this is great! Sorry for those of you that have already heard it. Right after we decided that "yes, we are going to fill in the pond" I tried to fish out the goldfish...you know, I wanted to save them and let them go in the real pond down the street. So I got about 10 of them out and put them into a bucket. A couple of days passed and I went to check on the fish thinking, "I hope they're still alive. I really need to let them go in the pond, but there are so many still in our pond." Guess what...nope...they aren't dead...they aren't there. So, what happened to them? My neighbor later informed me that when he was leaving for work he saw a bird (not just any bird, but some kind of crane) in our backyard eating fish. I tried to save their poor lives and ended up killing them instead. So, that wasn't so quick and I've thought of another story.
As David and I are talking about the fact that I provided a feast for this bird, I see one of the fish that is still alive in the pond start to turn belly up and float to the top. How strange that it would die right there while we're watching. But, it doesn't just float to the top it starts to come out of the water and then I see this snake that has it's mouth over the mouth of the fish trying to sufficate it. For some reason, the snake let go of the fish and it survived...at least I think so. Well, that sealed the deal...bye bye fish pond!
While I was at the beach for Mother's day, David, our neighbor (Kitwana) and Matt Shirley started tearing up the pond. David was going to save the beautiful purple irises for me, but when he pulled up one of the stones two HUGE snakes were curled up underneath it. They went into the pond and could not be found. So, being guys and wanting to have a little fun, the guys decided to try to burn the snakes out. GROSS! By the end of the day, David and I decided that there were 5 different snakes that we had seen and who knows how many more.
By the way, David said they all screamed like little girls when he pulled up that stone.
We just had the dirt delivered today. So, we decided to let the kids have a little bit of fun. Kelly decided she was queen of the hill and Kyle had his shovel and worked just like Daddy.
All of these pictures are blurry because Kyle was having so much fun that I could not get him still for a second.
I can't believe how much Kelly was into it. She was sliding down the side of it and climbing all over. I guess this princess doesn't mind a little dirt.
Well, this wraps it up. The kids are both sound asleep after having some extra scrubbing in the tub. Their clothes are soaking in the sink and calling my name. I'll update after we lay the grass and it's all "pretty". Oh, notice the burned leaves on the Japanese Maple (to the left) in the picture below.
3 comments:
I wish you could have seen my face, reading about the pond and SNAKES!!!! Yikes!! Scary! Grant & Anna would have loved playing in the dirt, too!!
Oh, I wish I could have been there to see them pulling up that rock and finding those snakes. I would be very glad to say goodbye to the pond. Even though I grew up in the country snakes are not my favorite.
Yikes! I am so glad you are filling it in...now, we will all sleep better not having to worry about snakes in your yard. Ugghhhh!!
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