Grasshopper

Here's a fabulous bug that showed up on my friends porch. I took this photo with my cell phone, which appears to have better resolution close up than my camera. This is the porch of same friend who has been supplying me with the wonderful works of art, so I am posting the photo in order to inspire her to further artistic expression. We took this photo some time in early August, around the time when I was just getting started with my blog. I imagine that the bug in the photo is likely no longer amoung the living, or if he is he hasn't got much time left - Although as usual I really have no idea what I'm talking about and am too lazy and busy to do the research. I have had a lot of trouble taking good bug pictures with my camera, I am going to get a new one any day now.

The Scout

I asked my friend who is discovering the joys of computer art to make me a picture inspired by last Monday's post, "Dedans et Dehors", and here it is. I'm not sure why she called it "The Scout", but there you have it there is no accounting for artistic temperment. I think it is quite brilliant, and I would like to encourage any other members of my vast reader base to send me their frogapalooza inspired artwork and I will see to it that it gets a public airing as long as it confirms to the dictates of good taste and back yard ponding. Speaking of which, we haven't had any hamster dance for a while, and that's just not right. Enjoy.

Raining again

It has rained all weekend and the pools are very full. I took this photo with my digital camera, I think it has a wonderful art-school quality. There were other photos which more clearly show how the upper and middle pools are at the same level, but I decided to go for art. The new pool has been filling up with water, but unfortunately not as much as it should be. I think there is a problem with the seal at the interface between the natural rock bottom and the rock wall that I am building. The good thing is that I can just let the water level settle and then I should see more or less where I need to re-cement. Hopefully it will be a simple fix. I haven't done ANY work this weekend, not on the basement or the new pool, it is so rainy and sleepy that it was all I could do to make myself wash the dishes. I also fished two dead worms out of the new pool but I will spare you the graphics.

Hard rain

I rained A LOT last night. It rained so much that the lower pool and the middle pool were at the same level, which they aren't usually because whatever slow leaks there are in the pool system inevitably lower the lower pool's level. When I looked in the pool this morning (it's still raining) I noticed that the fish from the upper pool are now in the middle pool, and some of the fish from the lower pool are also in the middle pool! The movement of the fish from the upper to middle pool is remarkable because that means they were washed over the flat area, and they are really quite big at this point and I'm surprised that they are such slaves to the current. The white fish from the lower pool is in the middle pool, which means it jumped upstream, and which makes me think that it is the ghost fish I was confused about earlier ... Although I'm still not sure that I ever actually bought a white fish. And now I notice there are 3 small dark fish in the lower pool, more than I had thought ... so the fish continue with their mysterious ways. If I go out one morning and find someone back in the upper pool I'm really going to flip my lid.

Frogger in a snowstorm

My friend created this wonderful image of Frogger in a snow storm. She has been making her own kombucha lately and I think the bubbles may be awakening her creative urges or else maybe there are some slow acting toxins in the mix. Or maybe she is just bored as she claims. Today it would be more appropriate to show Frogger in a rain storm, since we have another tropical depression up from Florida. I have a tropical depression coming up from Florida, too, but that's another subject. The pond is getting refilled with nice rain water today, although I am not sure how pure that really is but the frogs seem to like it fine.

Angel of death

This summer there was a very unusal amount of rain in New England and that produced a VERY unusual amount of fugi all over the place. My neighbors have been digging them out of their lawns - I didn't bother to mow this summer so I didn't have that problem, or rather I had lots of mushrooms but I decided not to consider it a problem. This is not a photo from my backyard, it is from the woods in New Hampshire where we were mountain biking. The mushrooms are Amanita Virsoa, the angle of death, the only really poisonos mushroom which grows in this area, but it's a doozy. According to it's victims, it tastes great, and they feel fine for the first 24 hours after eating it. By the time they start experiencing unpleasant symptoms, the mushroom's toxins have already attached and destroyed major internal organs and it is too late to do anything about it. The mushrooms main characteristic is it's beautiful pure white color (although sometimes it has a green cap) with a veil and a blub. So here's a tip: Don't eat any pure white mushrooms. It is also the cousin of the delicious Amanita Cesaria and the halucinogenic Amanita Muscaria. I haven't seen any in the woods of NH for quite a few years, but on this mountain biking trip I saw TONS. I also saw the Muscaria, known as Soma the divine mushroom of the gods, but unfortunately no Amanita Cesaria (haven't seen that one in years) or any of my other favorite eating mushrooms.

Imitating art

Frogger imitating the iron frog imitating Frogger. He is trying to hide at the bottom of the top pool but it is really shallow and there isn't a lot of muck so he is not succeeding very well. I wonder if he realizes I can see him or not. Some time I have to look up the facts on how long a frog like Frogger can stay under water holding its breath. Of course, when it goes into its hybernation state it doesn't breath all winter, but that's different since it is frozen solid. Maybe next winter I will try to dig Frogger up while he is frozen but I am afraid I might hurt him by mistake so I probably won't, anyway if he's frozen the pond will be frozen too so it would require a chain saw and that would probably mean that I would hurt myself as well as Frogger.

New Growth

I've been noticing a lot of new growth in the lily pads, I wonder if this is normal for the time of year, as the weather is getting colder. The lily bud which I posted about several weeks ago has done nothing, I guess it was just irrational exuberance. I like the color of the new lily pads, they are kind of purple. There are also what look like a lot of wide lily pads growing at the base in the water which I couldn't get a good shot of, I wonder if that is some new stage in the plant's life. I am also wondering if I will be able to leave them out in the water over winter or if they will die. All of my lilies died over last winter, but I believe that was because the water totally drained out, however I don't know how much water they need in order to survive. As I recall, they were in fairly deep in the ponds I took them out of. I think I am going to transplant the lilies in the upper and middle pools, which are more shallow than the lower pool, into the new pool before winter.

Dedans et dehors

In n' out performing in their own private European Art Film. You wouldn't understand.

Progress

I spent most of the day yesterday working on the new pool - I probably put in at least five hours of real labor. I made a fair amount of progress although there is a lot more to do. I don't remember the other pools taking this long although this one is quite a bit deeper, also maybe it's one of those things like the pain of childbirth that are quickly forgotten in the face of the new object of adoration. I am about three fourths of the way through the second 5 gallon tub of hydrolic concrete, so I think a third one is going to be necessary before the end - Bringing my total costs up over $120 depending on where I buy the concrete. I also have to make some important decisions now about how the water is going to flow, where the head of the fountain is going to be. I was lying in bed thinking that maybe the current upper pool should remain the upper pool and the water should flow out in two directions, but that's maybe too complicated. I think I want the fountain to be about where I took this photo from, but I'm not sure how to disguise the tubing so it doesn't look stupid. I woke up this morning with a rather tweaked back and hips from all that crouching down and lifting rocks around, so I am taking the day off today and going out to brunch with my cousin who is in town for her law school reunion.

Evening Glories

I found these flowers blooming at the other end of my garden last night. They are a beautiful blue color, the photo doesn't really do them justice. This is the color of morning glory I had been hoping for on the big trellis which is growing by my pool. They must be left over from seeds I planted a couple of years ago. Funny thing is, they bloomed in the evening, not the morning! All of the flowers on the trellis bloom in the morning and are dead by the time I get home from work so I'm not sure what's up with these guys. I found a bag of morning glory seeds while I was cleaning the basement last weekend so I put them where I will know to find them next year, I am pretty sure they are the blue kind, I will use them to plant next to the pond. I think I will build myself a bent wood trellis at the edge this upcoming spring.

Spoiler

In case you couldn't find the frogs in yesterday's post, here is the spoiler! Again this morning they were no where to be found, but it was pre-dawn as I was leaving for work (bummer) and pretty cold, so they were probably not up to there minimal temperature yet. I am going to put some serious work into the new pool this weekend, hopefully I will be able to get most of the walls finished now that I have a new supply of rocks from the basement. I sure hope my house doesn't fall down %) That was supposed to be a smiley face, by the way, not sure how it looks in the font you are viewing ...

They're back!

I guess the frogs were just off for a long weekend or something, because when I came home from work yesterday there they all were, sitting in the lower pool. I lent my camera to a friend so I had to take this with my cell phone, I don't know if I would have had any better luck with my camera, it is very hard to see the frogs in this photo but they are all there if you look hard. I am getting extremely good at frog spotting. In other news, here is a link to the research on invasive worms from a member of my huge anonymous fan base. Pretty depressing, I'll keep drowning those worms for the good of the forests. Actually the whole website is well worth some time since it contains other important advice such as never ever release aquarium fish into the wild. So I guess my goldfish better hope the new inhabitants want them when I sell my house or else we are going to all have to drink the kool-aide (well, not me and the native frogs. Or Squeakers.)

Frog gone

This photo is representative of the deep feeling of loneliness I am currently experiencing (and the oak tree which grows near my pond.) I didn't see ANY frogs today, it seems like they've all up and moved on me. I don't think it's due to any change in the pond, I did add more water the other day but it was no different than any other time I have added water. I also don't think it is due to the local cat, there are no signs of carnage or hunting around the pool, one cat-killed frog I could have missed but I'm sure I would notice if it was a pattern. Maybe it is some sort of need to explore new territory brought on by the change in the seasons. Luckily the fish are still there, but then they have no choice in the matter. Or maybe they do, since they appear to be adept at disappearing and appearing again in different parts of the pool. I couldn't find ANY fish in the middle pool today, not even after I threw in fish food, however the little calico fish has now showed up in the lower pool - I guess it went over the waterfall. I miss my frogs! I hope they come back soon.

Holding water

It rained this weekend, and for several reasons I didn't work on the new pool. On the other hand, I made some substantial gains in the basement. I vacuumed up a lot of dust, however it is really not possible to vacuum up all of the dust until I seal the floor. I also need to decide what to do about the remaining bits of asbestos pipe insulation which wasn't removed (and no doubt illegally dumped) by the former owner in order to sell the house. But back to the matter at hand, the new pool. It has been filling up due to the rain, and this photo shows that it is holding water quite well. I was worried about running out of rocks to finish the pool, since I want it to be quite deep, but cleaning the basement has also provided me with a new store of rocks, which were left over by the person who worked on repointing my foundation. Like the engine of the VW bug I owned when I was a teenager, and which my boyfriend's brother convinced me to let him take apart and put back together again, with many left over parts. Should have been a useful life lesson for me but I'm not sure I learned it well enough, as evidenced by the foundation rocks in my garden.

Frog god

Frogger worshiping at the feet of the great frog god as he bestows the blessing of new water upon the upper pool. So far today I have only seen one frog, but that one sat in exactly the same place for hours. I hope the others are just out hunting in the garden and haven't come to any harm. I worry about my frogs well-being and count them whenever I go outside. There is a new tom cat who just moved in to the neighborhood and looks pretty tough and is outside most of the time. I hope he doesn't have a taste for frogs. Hopefully the frog god is looking out for his subjects. Of course, frogs do have a natural advantage in escaping the cat due to the cat's innate dislike of water. And the other dangerous possibility exists that my frogs have become disgusted with my attempt to impose an artificial deity into their otherwise perfectly fine existences and have gone to seek freedom of religion in someone else's back yard pond.

Three new fishes

Here is a photo of all three fish from the upper pool together, however they are NOT the fish I refer to in th title. Three NEW fish just appeared in the middle pool! One is gold, the other two appear to be silver. I have NO idea where they came from! Weirder and weirder. I will post a photo of they when I can get one, it seems then that I have four fish in the middle pool but it is very hard to know because there are lily pads and rock ledges and the fish are shy. The three fish in the upper poll are getting a lot less shy and are learning about feeding time. Now they come out when they see me near the pond and swim around waiting for me to feed them. You can see the little fish pellets floating around in this picture. I don't usually feed them every day, they eat a lot of pond algae and hopefully worm larva and other yummy things. I have been reading fish care sites, they really get into goldfish feeding requirements, but my basic theory is that they are scavengers and anyway I don't want them to get too big, since my pond really isn't very big and neither is my goldfish tank. I don't know what I will do with them if they get too big or I sell my house - Hopefully the future owner will want to take care of them. That's the problem with pets, it's such a responsibility! Good thing I don't have to take care of the frogs too ... although I haven't seen any frogs today, so maybe I should be.

Dead worm

This unlucky worm went into the rain water which has collected at the bottom of the new pool and did not survive the experience. I am sure it was killed by the mortar which is collected at the bottom of the pool, combined with drowning I suppose. I would feel worse about it but my sister did some research and found out that the large night crawler worms are actually an invasive species which is bad for some of the native trees, particularly the sugar maples I believe although again I am too lazy to do my own research on the subject and I can't quite remember what she said but I am sure what she told me would be correct. So next time you go fishing and you skewer one of these guys at the end of your fishing hook don't feel bad, it's for the good of your country. I'm just glad the frogs have the good sense to avoid the new construction and I will make sure to clean all the mortar I can out of the pool before I put it into operation.

Hidden frog III

When I was out walking around the pond this morning I startled Frogger who was on the other side of the path, looking for bugs in the bushes I suppose, and he made a mad dash for the pond and we actually collided. Silly frog. Then he went and hid in the upper pool, which mostly consisted of him sitting underwater with his head under a bunch of muck. He didn't stay there very long though, I was taking pictures of the fish in the upper pool (and of him obviously) so he soon calmed down and came back up to float on the top of the pond.

Imitating life

There was a visitor to the pond last night, and just as I had feared the creature knocked the hose out of place and the iron frog to the bottom of the lower pool. Luckily the hose itself fell into the middle pool as I had planed, so everything was fine except that the upper pool didn't get any circulation all night which really isn't a big deal. This photo shows the iron frog in the pool where I found it, you can also see some of the goldfish and the two love birds hanging out together in the lily pads. So sweet. I think the visitor was probably a raccoon, I am sleeping on the other side of the house now so I wouldn't have heard anything although I have been woken up by them in the middle of the night in before I moved my bedroom. There was some other evidence of raccoon activity, like broken lily pads in the middle pool and broken reeds of pond grass in the upper pool and things looking generally a bit messed up.

Ghost fish

There is a fish in the middle pool! I have no idea how long it has been there. It may be one of the ones I noticed in the middle pool after the heavy rains in the beginning of August and thought had migrated back down into the lower pool. It is also not one of the fish from the upper pool, pushed over the waterfall by Hanna, I checked. It looks mostly white, but I am wondering if it is actually my formerly orange and black goldfish. I was sufficiently worried that it might be sick to do a little web research and it appears that goldfish changing color is a normal phenomenon so now I'm not so worried. I think it must be lonely in there by itself, the reason I hadn't spotted it for so long is that there is a rock ledge overhanging one edge of the middle pool and it appears to like hiding in there, also the lily pads in the middle pool have really taken off and now cover much of the surface. I will have to remember to throw some food into the middle pool occasionally. Maybe I will move up one of the fish from the lower pool in to give it some company.

New fountain

I have a new fountain for my pond! Actually it is an iron frog that I liberated from my dear friend's basement. It has been sitting on the edge of the pond all summer, and I have been using a really ugly piece of cement to weight down the end of the hose that goes into the upper pool. I have to weight it down because I live in mortal fear that some creature will come by and knock it out of place and then the pump will pump all of the water out of the lower pool and onto the ground, and all of the fish in the lower pool (which is where most of my fish live) will die. You may rightly ask why I keep the fish in the lower pool if it is so dangerous, the reason is because the upper pool (where the new fish appeared) is much shallower, and if I put them in the middle pool the eventually work their way over the waterfall into the lower pool, anyway. I am kind of annoyed with myself that it took me all summer to realize that I could use the iron frog to weight the end of the hose, it looks so much nicer than the broken block of cement!

Frog spotting

Yesterday three frogs all decided to sit on the same side of the pond at the same time - Can you spot them in the photo? They're all in there, although it was difficult to get a good shot and I was afraid of startling them. Maybe they were all on the same side because I was working on building the new pool on the other side and they have the good sense to stay clear of the hydrolic cement, maybe because of the recent cat related incident. They were all sitting in a row perfectly still for most of the afternoon, it was quite remarkable. I had a good chance to compare them, and they were definitely three distinct sizes ... Further evidence that there are actually more than three frogs in the pond, because I am quite sure that in and out are the same size as you can see from earlier photos. Unless of course one of them has grown substantially larger over the summer, could be a gender related thing. Also I was able to verify that Frogger's markings are much less brilliant than the other frogs markings. I don't think he is a different flavor of forg, however, and I feel great scientific guilt over the fact that I am too lazy to do a decent investigation of the literature and find out for sure. I also now think that the two love birds are in and out. I came out last night and the were KISSING! Snout to snout. I ran to get the camera but they had moved before I could get a shot.

Second row

I put another row of rocks into the new pool this weekend, actually a bit more than another row. I also almost used up half of my 50lb tub of cement, I guess it will take at least another one before I am done. As you can see from the photo (sort of) the floor of the pool and one side are natural rock and the rest are stone walls. The natural rock formations were the motivation for building these pools in the first place, although I know now that they have fissures in the bottom which I should be filling with the hydrolic cement as I build the pools or else they slowly leach out the water. I don't know if it is worth while to try to fix the fissures in the existing pools, since it would mean completely draining and cleaning them. I emptied them most of the way this spring to re-enforce them with the hydrolic cement, and now they are holding water pretty well, so I probably won't bother. Especially since most of the outer wall of the lower pool, which also tends to leak, will now be shared with the new pool so it doesn't matter if the water leaches through it and in general the pond depth should be more stable. The cement is very toxic to the fish and frogs until it is completely dry, so I have to be very careful not to get any of it in the pond while I am working.

Squeakers Jr

A particularly fine photo of Frogger - I am starting to be able to tell them apart, Frogger doesn't have a strong markings as the other two (if there are only another two) for example the frog in the picture for this post is clearly not the same frog as in the title banner. Their eyeliner application techniques are completely different. More on that later, today the subject of the blog is: Frogger keeps squeaking! Whenever I startle him, he lets out a big squeak and jumps in the pool. It really is a squeak, not a croak - out (I think) was croaking the other day, but this is different. I think I may have to rename Frogger to Squeakers, but that complicates life because I already have a cat named Squeakers and having two pets with the same name is rather confusing. Not that I can really consider Frogger to be a pet, he is more like a neighbor or a squatter or perhaps a domestic servant since he catches bugs for me. And we are now supposed to call house cats feline companions, not pets, but Squeakers the cat is really more of a princess than a companion. We almost had a great tragedy yesterday, Frogger was in the garden and actually moving (rare for him) and Squeakers saw him and pounced, luckily I was right nearby and yelled at her so she desisted and Frogger got away. I don't know how I could have forgiven her for that one, the dead moles are bad enough.

Changing colors

Earlier I mentioned that I lost my favorite fish from last winter, a fish which had a black tail and fins. I was wondering whether the other fish had done him in in a jealous rage. My friend suggested that perhaps the dark color had faded with the summer and I summarily dismissed the idea. Well, now I think she may be right. I looked in the upper pool today and the orange fish with the black markings is now an orange fish with white markings! The down side to this discovery is that I this could be the sign of some disease in the fish. I tried to catch the fish in the upper pool in order to make sure that it is ok, but I couldn't with the net that I have - I need a new net, also better technique. All I managed to do was to freak the fish out. But it did move very fast and inventively, and it looks fine as far as I can see, so it probably isn't sick.

Frog love

Incredible! It really is frog love! Yesterday I went out and took this picture, it is not very good because as soon as I got too near Frogger took off, he is very camera shy. Then I went inside and came out again a few minutes later and there they were again, in the same pose! I tried to get another photo but again Frogger took off before I could get a good shot. I think it the other one must be in, because in likes to hide under lily pads, and out was sitting at the edge of the middle pool when I took this shot. Left out again. But then I googled frog sex and maybe it's not so great, although frankly any animal's sex life when viewed from the scientific observer's perspective is not very appealing.

First row

This weekend I finished the bottom row of stones for the new pool. In some ways this is the most difficult row, because I have to clean the dirt off of the stone in order to apply the cement. I didn't get a lot done because of the time spent cleaning the basement, which is, of course, a worthy cause, but I had better pick up the pace of building the wall because I need to get it finished in time to move the fish in before the winter. I think I will leave half the fish in the pools and bring half into the dining room again in case the others don't make it through the winter. I noticed the dark fish in the upper pool is quickly getting bigger than the others and chases them off when I feed them. He gets to be one of the test fish over the winter!

Cuddling frogs

I think two of my frogs are in love. I'm pretty sure it's Frogger and either in or out. Of course, the old dog is going after new meat. I caught them several days ago, and then today, snuggling together! It seems to me it is the wrong time of the year for frogs to reproduce, and I don't even know if frog reproduction involves physical contact ... I suppose I should really look it up on the web. I hope the leftover frog (in? out?) doesn't feel left out and depressed! Maybe I should catch another frog for the leftover when I'm in NH, although from my understanding of online dating it takes more than one try to find the right one. However, I saw some very cute frogs while I was in NH mountainbiking this weekend! I suppose I should start kissing them, just in case.

Morning Glories

There are many more morning glories now, their colors range from pure white to white with pink stripes through it. They are very voluptuous, with lots of blooms, they will be good for shading the pond next year. A friend gave me an ipod as a gift, loaded with audio books. I have been cleaning the basement today and listening to the biography of John Adams. Listening to books is quite addictive and satisfies my obsessive need to multi-task, especially while performing annoying tasks like cleaning the basement. Unfortunately I don't dare wear it while I am building the new pool because I don't want it to get gunked up with cement. Probably I shouldn't anyway because building the pool takes a lot of concentration and I wouldn't be able to pay attention to the story.