The Facts About Joe's Disappearance

Leak Not

I have not found a leak, an ooze, a discharge, a drip, a hole, or any percolation. Nor have I found a seepage, a spill, a trickle or a vent. Not a crack, a puncture, a chink or even a fissure.

The fix worked.

The pond is tight. The pumps are pumping. The falls are falling. The spitters are spitting. The water is wet.

The only thing wrong with the pond is Joe's not there. I think she added a whole new dimension, a focus if you will. So we pass our days without her sweet face and big grin. I'm looking forward to her return...

Falls Are Now UP

Up and running...



Don'tchalovethewave?

I've done my thing and just completed filling the pond. In a few hours we will know if there are any leaks... knock on wood.

Here it is... what is quickly becoming known as NO-NAME FALLS.

I'm always amazed when I look back at a project. So much sweat and a little blood too but when it's all done you look at it and just forget what a pain in the butt it was to create.

No-name #2 is definitely different than #1. I have a few tweaks to do in the placement of rock to hide the liner. It's pretty much finished and I hope I'm finished for this year. Hefting those stones and balancing on rocks makes me sweat, sore and tired. I'm no spring chicken you know.

No-Name Falls Rises Again!

Some times it ain't easy being me and I'm not even green.

I want to tell y'all that I found the leak. It was not in the bridge pond. It didn't require a patch. There was no hole in the liner. Without feeling the least bit guilty I can pass the buck on this SNAFU to the most incompetent pond builder this side of the big dipper. That covers a lot of territory... a lot!

As things usually go I have to admit I'm not squeaky clean here. I hate it when we have swords we have to fall on or foots we manage to shoot or dirty laundry that needs to be aired.

I made 2 mistakes.

Mistake 1. If you recall in my last post I told you I was able to add 2 or 3 inches of water to the pond hoping to find the leak. I should have added 3 or 4 inches of water and things would have been different.

Mistake 2. It's either A: rationalization or B: laziness or C: both. When inspecting the shoreline of the pond I skipped an area. I rationalized that this area had never been touched since the pond was built and therefore couldn't possibly be the source of the problem. Wrong 'ol boar breath. I was lazy.

The leak was in that undisturbed corner (area with the red circle). There was a potential leak under the falls filling the pond (arrow). I would have found it if I had just moved another 3 feet of river rocks. I didn't move that 3 feet until today and for that I'm having to rebuild no-name falls. I could have fixed the problem in less than 30 minutes if I had moved those rocks. I didn't. I wish I had. Too late now... get over it. I am now finished falling on my sword, shooting one of my foots and the laundry has gone in the dryer.

I have a few choice words for the pond builder. Idiot is the first thing that comes to mind. Shoddy work. No pride. Just get-r-done and collect the cash and run.

Enough ranting. The problem has been resolved.

I've started rebuilding the falls which is the last thing I have to do prior to filling the pond with H2O. I'll be using the same flat stones with new foam. I spent a couple of hours scraping the foam off the stones and then using a wire wheel on my drill to clean them further. I finished re-stacking the river rock around the shore line. I expect to finish the falls in the morning. Have the pond filled by 4 or 5 in the afternoon. Working, as in pumping, immediately following the filling exercise.

There is a lesson here... could it be: Don't be lazy? Rationalization usually isn't a good thing? Don't hire pond builders with the word "stupid" on their forehead?

As we used to sing at IBM... long ago: Ever Onward (click to download).

Blind in One Eye... Can't See Out the Other

I tore the no-name waterfall down today and looked closely for a hole in the liner.... saw nothing.

So I raised the liner as much as it would allow and filled the pond immediately before the waterfall to check if possibly the leak was in the 2 or 3 inches above the current waterline... Saw nothing.

Maybe I have a black hole in my pond. The intense gravity is pulling in the light waves so it is invisible to mere mortals... maybe not.

So I filled the bridge pond once again (using water from the skimmer pond) to see if magic has happened and the hole that was under a waterfall has moved to the bridge pond. When I checked the bridge pond for leaks I only let it sit for 2 or 3 hours. This time I'll let it sit all night.

Irks me that I didn't find a leak under the no-name waterfall.

I'll be back at it in the morning...

No Joe and Other Bad Luck

It has been a week with no sighting of Joe. I don't know if it has been cool enough to cause her to prepare for winter or if the changing environment in the pond arena has caused her to seek better digs. In any case Ms. Joe has not blessed us with her smile and I have to assume she is gone until next year. At least I hope she returns next year... this is like a cliff hanger at the end of a TV series regular season. So turn on, tune in and watch for teasers.

I am also sorry to report that there is a major malfunction in the pond. I guess in the grand scheme of things the term "major malfunction" may be a bit of an overstatement. Call it a "minor malfunction" or "major malfunction" or just a regular everyday FUBAR or if you prefer SNAFU. Are you curious yet about what could possibly be wrong with the pond?

It leaks!

Not being able to just leave it at that, I have to tell you the story and what I'm going to do about it.... or what I think I'm going to do about it.

This past Monday morning I finished filling the pond and powered up the pump. It was beautiful. I was pleased and took pictures and posted them to this blog. I have to say I was feeling proud of myself for building the waterfall and seeing how it worked out. I sat next to the pond for about an hour and listened to the water and just rested... my bones were tired.

Later that day I noticed the water level was low. I rationalized that I must not have filled it completely in the morning so I filled it again making sure it was full to the waterline. Monday evening the water was low again. I realized I must have a leak somewhere. Of course the question is where.

I shut down the pump and let all the ponds settle. Before going to bed Monday night I marked the waterline in each pond. On Tuesday I expected to find one of the ponds low and that would point me to the faulty pond. The pond Gods were not being kind. On Tuesday morning all the ponds were pretty much where they were on Monday evening. How can that be?

I waited until Tuesday evening and none of the ponds indicated a leak. This was very scary because I realized I was going to have to THINK! So I got out my THINK notebook, placed it on my head, put on my hat so the notebook wouldn't fall off and started thinking about my pond. About water. About ice cream. About the pond. About candy. About sex but quickly back to ice cream.

Eureka, I THINK I've got it. The pond must be leaking at the waterfall. Maybe I tore the liner when laying the stones. Quite possible as some stones have very sharp edges. Maybe the padding I put on the cinder blocks slipped and a corner poked through the liner. In either case it explained why I was losing water when the pump was running and not losing water when I shut it all down. I wonder if I'm thinking correctly...

I wanted to know how much water was leaking. I fingered out approximately how many cubic inches there were in the top 1 inch of the last or bottom pond (20 ft X 5 ft X 1 inch = 14400 CI). Then I opened my handy dandy convert program and under the volume tab I converted the cubic inches to gallons of water. Knowing I was losing about 2 inches of water every 3 hours or so I calculated that I was losing about 40 gallons of water per hour. Wow, quite a bit. If this is a single hole in the liner I shouldn't have any problem seeing it. Who knows if it's a single hole or not....

So my plan is: Call my pond guru and run my logic past him. Getting another opinion on my insanity me thinks. If my logic stands I'll be tearing down my just put up, no name, waterfall in search of a hole. I hate to do it but I will also have to dump a bit over 1000 gallons of water.

I'll post an update right in this blog when I have something to say. Will probably be in a couple of days.

Lastly, I realize this is a FROG Blog and I'm kinda turning it into a POND Blog. I just want to say that Joe wouldn't have stopped by without there being a pond and in a way a frog environment is about the frog... kinda... a little?

Waterfall

I'm still trying to figure out a name for the waterfall for the bridge pond. HELP!!!

In the mean time, for that reader with ants in their pants here is the new and upgraded waterfall.


The lowest or closest waterfall is the latest work of art.

Why I Work Half Fast...

Today I rediscovered why I have to work with only 1 hand. It has to do with balance which has to do with my center of gravity. Say I bend over to pickup a rock, if I put one hand down to balance myself then I can pick up the rock. If I don't put a hand down to balance myself I fall on my face. You don't have to do this too many times before you decide something needs to change. So I put a hand down to balance myself. Since I only have two hands I figure my productivity is cut in half. Since I'm only working half fast it takes longer to get things done.

I had started working on the waterfall that flows into the bridge pond on Thursday. I tore down the old one which was easy because it was falling apart. I found that one pond liner stopped at the waterfall and the other began at the waterfall so I was able to peel back the layers of pond liner to make a secure base for the falls. I put in cinder blocks and foamed the whole thing so it wouldn't move. Then I laid the stones to make the falls. This afternoon I started to refill the pond. It got dark so I shut off the water and will finish filling the pond on Monday.

While I'm sure the person who follows this blog is waiting with ant's in their pants to see a picture of the new waterfall I have to get the pump going before it looks like a waterfall.

I haven't seen Joe since I saw her hop'n along... I hope she is around but I can't say as I blame her if she left... ever hear of a sail frog?

Now you have something to look forward to. Yep, pictures on Monday.

Yep, Drained the Bridge Pond... Sorry Joe

I didn't see Joe today. Probably a good thing because she would have been pissed at me as I drained the bridge pond this morning. I didn't think it would take me long to toss rocks and get the pond in ship shape. I guess I wasn't thinking.

I tossed rocks until my tosser was too tired to toss. I must have moved a couple of tons of stone. It seems at one time there was enough rocks in the pond to cover everything. Then you move just one rock and you have a hole that requires two rocks to fill. I moved rock until I just didn't have any energy left.

I ate lunch at 11 AM. That helped but by 1:30 or 2:00 PM I was out of gas again so I just gave it up until Friday.

I am pretty close to throw'n my last rock in the bridge pond though. That's the good news. The bad news is after inspecting the waterfall that feeds the bridge pond I need to take it apart and put it back together again with "pucky" instead of mortar. So I will once again be spread'n the black goo on my hands, arms and even my legs.

I think I need to come up with a name for this waterfall. Maybe as a tribute to Star Trek I should name it "3 of 5." Nah, not catchy enough. Maybe in tribute to Niagara Falls (I saw the falls once with Don Moser... very romantic) I could name it "Viagra Falls" as the water goes down not up. That's a little catchy though not on a par with Humpty Dumpty Falls. After watching the news these past few days I could name it "Stock Market Falls." How 'bout "Water Falls." I just don't know. If anyone has any ideas I'm open.

So when Friday rolls around I'll be back at it. First I'll finish toss'n rock and then I'll tackle the no name falls.

Stay tuned.

Do You Remember "Hopalong Cassidy"

'Ol Hoppy was one of those cowboys that kids watched on the black and white television start'n about 1950. In those days beside Hopalong there was also Roy Rogers and Gene Autry and a bunch of others. All these guys loved their horses and always sang a song. I guess you couldn't be a cowboy if you couldn't sing. Hoppy was a little different in that he wore a black hat but was a good guy. In those days all the bad guys wore black hats and good guys wore white hats.... The bad guys couldn't sing either. Just for the fun of it I'm going to post what Hoppy preached to us kids.

1. The highest badge of honor a person can wear is honesty. Be truthful at all times.
2. Your parents are the best friends you have. Listen to them and obey their instructions.
3. If you want to be respected, you must respect others. Show good manners in every way.
4. Only through hard work and study can you succeed. Don't be lazy.
5. Your good deeds always come to light. So don't boast or be a show-off.
6. If you waste time or money today, you will regret it tomorrow. Practice thrift in all ways.
7. Many animals are good and loyal companions. Be friendly and kind to them.
8. A strong, healthy body is a precious gift. Be neat and clean.
9. Our country's laws are made for your protection. Observe them carefully.
10. Children in many foreign lands are less fortunate than you. Be glad and proud you are an American.

Yea, it's a little thick by today standards but not bad lessons.

But the reason I mentioned Hopalong Cassidy was I saw Joe this afternoon. I'm pretty sure he had setup housekeeping in the deep pond. I'm also pretty sure he prefers the bridge pond for housing and of course Joe's pond for hunting.

When I saw Joe she was hop'n along (see the link here hop'n along and Hopalong) like there was something after her. Moving pretty fast toward the bridge pond. She was passing under the mulberry tree and came to a short rock wall and just hopped over the wall. With a nice dive and small splash she was back in the bridge pond.

Of course tomorrow I'll probably drain that pond so I can toss rocks that tumbled down during the earth quake.

Presenting: Humpty Dumpty Falls

It's a bunch of bull. It doesn't work. What was I think'n to even try... I'm talking about the nitrite gloves over hands slathered in petroleum jelly. It didn't even loosen up the yucky "pucky." About the only good thing was my hands were moisturized and soft but that went away as soon as I finished scrubbing them to get the Vaseline off. Once again the pumice stone used for removing calluses worked pretty good. This time I was careful not to over-scrub and didn't do like last time and remove skin enough to bleed.

Speaking of soft skin reminds me of a story. You need to know I have enough forehead for four heads. That is to say, I'm bald. A chrome dome. Follicularly challenged. Years ago a guy I worked with came into my office and ran his hand across my shinny pate and said, "Hummm smooth as my wife's butt." I looked at him and then ran my hand across that very same shinny pate and said, "Hummm, your right!" Ha... well it was funny when it happened.

Enough of this dilly dally and on to the subject of today's blog.

Here it is, Humpty Dumpty Falls in operation. In operation until I start rearranging rocks in the bridge pond. I need to take care of things like that ugly white PVC pipe that you see above and to the right of the falls. It won't be as drastic as tearing out old falls and creating new. I just need to get rocks to cover the pond liner and things like the PVC pipe. Probably a days work... no more than two.

Now isn't that a fine looking pergola? I have to say I love it because I made it. No help from anyone except I had the neighbor help me carry in a 16 foot 6X6 pressure treated post.

This picture is about the same as the one above but just not zoomed in on the falls.

I am glad it's done and feel lucky that it turned out as well as it did. The water level in the bridge pond is exactly were it was before. That was my biggest worry. I'll take luck over skill any day!

I've started a new blog that I hope will take me through the winter. It's Jims Bird Blog. There isn't much to see there right now but I'm working on it when I have time. I'll have the link listed under "My Other Blog Attempts" soon. Once Joe really finds torpidity there won't be much to put into the frog blog until the spring of 2009.

Yucky "Pucky"

As I enter these words into the Frog Blog I'm wearing blue nitrite gloves. Under the gloves are my hands lathered in petroleum jelly... That's Vaseline to most folks. Why, you may ask, am I doing this? I've been working on Humpty Dumpty Falls and have yucky "pucky" all over my hands. I read somewhere that if you lather your hands in petroleum jelly and put on the gloves for about an hour when you take them off you will be able to wipe the black "pucky" off. We will see in about 15 minutes.

One would think that if I have gloves to wear now why wasn't I wearing them when I was puck'n. I started out wearing gloves. I then found out that these gloves can't handle the rigors of sharp quartz stone. I also found out that once the gloves get a small tear in them it will run and the gloves basically fall off your hand. I also realized that if you leave your box of gloves in the garage and need to replace a glove it's really tough to do unless your going to quit what your doing and crawl out of the pond and walk to the garage and then back to the pond and so on and so forth....

Of course I found all this out on Monday! That's when I gave my first attempt to create Humpty Dumpty Falls. With "pucky" all over my hands and the stuff floating in the pond I stepped back to gaze upon my creation. It sucked! It sucked big time. I didn't like it at all. It had to go.

I put off taking the falls apart on Monday mostly because I was mad at it. I worked hard and it didn't look good, that made me mad. I should have been mad at myself because I created it but I like me too much to stay mad at myself so I stayed mad at the falls.

This morning I went out and tore it apart. I cleaned all the foam (pucky turns into foam) off the quartz and pond structure with a wire brush. Back to being creative at Humpty Dumpty Falls. I fiddled with it. I tried it this way and that way. I put it together and took it apart. What ever I did I wasn't happy with it. About 10:30 I realized I was getting riled again. I stopped.

I called my pond guy. My pond guru. He who knows all about ponds and water falls!!! I told him he needed to cancel all his appointments and get right over for an emergency meeting concerning Humpty Dumpty Falls. Well, not really but I did ask him to come over and take a look and point me in the right direction. He got here about 1:30 this afternoon. He looked. He said he thought I was a little too close to the job and was nit pick'n. Just put this rock here and a few like this and all will be well once the water starts flowing. He made it look so easy. He left. I got out another can of "pucky" and went to work once again. It took about 25 minutes of rock'n and puck'n and I was out of there.

It's drying now. I'm going to leave it alone until morning and then if it hasn't fallen down I'll try to finish it up so I can move on to other pond projects.

I'll let you know how it goes...

Here's Look'n at Ya

Joe made another appearance this afternoon. She was looking so cute I couldn't help but take her picture to share with her fans. If that mouth isn't a Joe E. Brown mouth I don't know what would be.

Her pond is still empty. The pumps are shut down. Work continues on Humpty Dumpty Falls this pleasant 80 degree afternoon. I've taken a few pictures so you can see what I'm doing.

In this picture (left) you see the ladder stretched across Joe's pond. Humpty Dumpty Falls is just beyond the ladder.

The ladder is there so I can sit while I toss rocks and adjust stones versus standing on rocks that move and then I step or stumble or even fall in the water. Hey, it works for me.

The green bucket is sitting on the last waterfall which is also Joe's station.

This is just a wider shot (right) of the work area. While you can't see her, Joe is in the pond at the bottom of the picture. This is the last pond in a series of 5. This pond is the deepest. About 4 feet on the left side and almost 7 feet on the right side.

You can see the bird feeder on the right side of the picture. Whoopee!

Like a Bad Penny

I was surprised to say the least when I saw Joe this afternoon. She was in the pond below Joe's station which is the last pond. Her pond is empty for all intent and purpose while I work on Humpty Dumpty Falls.

She wasn't doing anything. There were no birds around because I was in the yard. She gave me the "look" that said something like, "Hey, where the hell is the water in my pond?" She didn't tell me where she has been. Another of life's mysteries.

So there it is. It was nice to see her.

Humpty Dumpty Falls

Barring lightening storms or nude ladies walking their dogs, I would have to say morning is my favorite time of the day.   I'm usually up before the sun, the birds, the neighbors and the paper boy (or what ever they call them now days).  It's quiet.  I'm rested. I have the whole day in front of me...

This morning was normal.  I read for a while.  Got the paper.  I read for a while. I opened the shades so I could see what the new day would bring.

As the sun chased away the shadows I noticed the who-who birdies.   They were lined up like soldiers on a cold morning, hunched down, facing the sun.  Worshiping Ra?  To me it looked like they were still sleepy and needed a strong cup of coffee. I put off filling the bird feeder so I wouldn't disturb these cold soldiers witnessing sunrise.

These who-who birdies are not the brightest bulbs on the tree.  Yep, a long driveway and a very small garage.  A bunny short of energized.  A few threads short of a sweater.  A few twists shy of a slinky.... But they sure are cute. 

So while the who-who birdies were burning their retinas I watched the circus begin, once again, as the rest of the crew started to arrive. I took seed to the demanding creatures.

I was trying to remember when I last saw our hero, Joe. I'm thinking it was this past Sunday. The longer we go without a sighting the more I lean toward Joe giving it up until spring.

Later this morning I got a little carried away with pond renovations. While the pond guru and I were redoing Joe's station a few days ago, I was start'n to feel like I could do what the guru was doing. No problem. So I took down, as in demolished, the waterfall from the bridge pond that feeds Joe's station. Wow, kinda drastic now that it's demolished and I'm here all alone needing to figure out how to put it back together.... we can call it the Humpty Dumpty Falls in the future.

The waterfall really needed to be reworked. That was quite evident once I started demolition. The mortar that was used had cracks in it. Some mortar was nothing more than dirty sand, the cement long ago washed away. Water leaked under the falls as well as around the falls. It is supposed to only go over the falls. There were even leaves that had wedged themselves into the cracks. Would you believe the leaks were not the biggest problem? The biggest problem was what would happen when we had a power failure. When the electricity stops so does the pump. Then the ponds, which are driven by gravity, flow downhill... on into the next into the next and so on. When the bridge pond, which is the biggest pond, leaks under, around and through the falls the lowest pond overfills. When this happens the water reaches the overflow and vanishes down the drain. Then when the electricity starts up the lowest pond, which is where the pump lives, water gets pumped to the highest pond... that is until the pump runs out of water because so much went down the overflow. Then the pump burns out. A new pump is over $400. Whew... that was wordy.

The pond is stagnant now. No pumping going on and it will be a few days before we are going again. Since Joe hasn't made an appearance I guess I won't have much to say about frogs in the frog blog. Suggestions?

Joe's Station Completed ~ Where's Joe?

Here it is. Hot off the press. This is the new and improved Joe's Station. A little blood from razor sharp shards of quartz, now dulled by a small sledge hammer. A plethora of "pucky." The better part of a diamond grinder blade. Unknown dollars. Not to mention the sweat. We now have a repaired and improved waterfall.

What we don't have is Joe! The last time I saw her was Sunday morning. She didn't hang around for long and she hasn't returned that I've noted. On the other hand, the little darling, my granddaughter, was here briefly on Monday. She said she thought she saw Joe under the bridge. Grammy couldn't see Joe but I think I'll go with the granddaughters eyes over Grammy's.

I started the water flowing on Monday evening about 6:00 PM. That makes it about 26 hours of run time without anyone clomping through the pond. The weather has turned cool again. Yesterday the high was in the middle 80's. Today the high was maybe middle 70's and it was into the 60's before the sun set. I doesn't take long for the water to cool and Joe to cool with it. Since this is my first season monitoring a bullfrog I have no idea when she will give it up and settle on the bottom of the pond.

Since I don't have any Joe news I thought I would throw in a picture I took this morning of Joe food. Yep, that would be sparrows.I don't know what kind of sparrows these are but I do know they are sparrows. So for your viewing pleasure I present the bird feeder with birds. Note the little guy on the left coming in for a landing... that's cool me thinks. I have more pictures of the birds but haven't posted them as this is a frog blog. If you would like to see them leave me a comment and I'll post a few.

In the mean time rest assured I'm watching for Joe and will advise if she should turn up.

Joe's Station ~ Reconstruction... Plan B

On Saturday we worked hard at getting the flat stones just so. We inspected and adjusted and shimmed, looked again, tweaked it a little and finally we moved to the next stone. We got all the stones where we thought they should be and started spraying the "pucky."

"Pucky" is the term used to describe the black foam used to secure the stones. This stuff is sticky and just loved getting on my fingers. Being the klutz I am I even put the palm of my hand on some "pucky" and came away with a nice layer of black foam curing on my palm. You can't wipe this stuff off unless you use mineral spirits. By the end of the day I had black hands and black spots on my shorts.

I tried to get the "pucky" off with mineral spirits but I guess you need to get it off while it is still curing not after it dries. When I hopped into the shower last night I took a pumice stone and tried to scrub the stuff off my hands. It worked pretty good. I now have sore hands and a few scabs where I not only removed the black "pucky" I removed my skin. I think I went a bit overboard on getting rid of the "pucky."

Back to the waterfall. We sprayed two large cans of "pucky" and patted ourselves on the back for a job well done. The expert left with a plan to return today for touch-up.

There were a couple of problems with our work that showed up after starting the pump. First the new waterfall raised the water level of the pond by about 3 inches. This brought the water just to the top of the rubber pond liner. Not a problem in the summer but in the winter when the water freezes it will overflow. The second problem is about 75 percent of the water was flowing on the west side of the falls.... it was lopsided. Thus Plan B was born.

We pried up all the stones except one. We wire brushed the stones to remove all the "pucky" and basically started over. After about 3 hours we had the preliminary stone configuration tacked in, again, and when the foam cured enough I was going to run the pump and see how it looked. In the mean time my expert had to leave for other commitments. You'd think it was Sunday for crying out loud. He will return Monday afternoon when we can, hopefully, finish the waterfall.

There is FROG news... this is a frog blog after all. Last night Joe made an appearance. I guess she was checking out the new stones. Apparently she liked them because when I went out to feed the birds this morning I went looking for Joe. She was in the pond but not at her usual place but close enough. I guess I spooked her. She dove for cover as I approached the pond. Her cover was under one of the largest flat stones we put in mostly for aesthetics. She seemed to be at home with the new digs.

I'll come up with a picture of the new layout and advise how it turns out in my next post.

Joe's Station is Under Construction

I was surprised to see Joe last night. As dusk settled in I noticed that Joe was on station. I had not seen her all day. The warmest part of the day was around 6:00 PM. That might have roused her from her hidden safe haven. What ever drew her out must have ended as she was not to be found this morning. The morning low temperature was again chasing 40 degrees.

I don't think I will see her in the next couple of days because we have started work on the waterfall that failed this past winter.

Apparently the mortar used to secure the stones in the waterfall couldn't stand up to the water and started to disintegrate. With the cycles of wet to freeze and back again, some of the flat stones of the waterfall fell into the 6 foot deep pond. It exposed some rusting re-bar and changed the desired water flow. It wasn't very attractive.

Today we removed the flat stones, all the re-bar, a bunch of the mortar and wire mesh that was used to try and hold things together. I have an expert from the local pond store advising me as well as helping... maybe I'm helping him. Yep, I think it's the latter.

We started placing new flat stones to form a waterfall. We lay a stone, shim it so it is secure and fairly level. Then we go to the other side of the pond and look at it. We then tweak it and look... tweak and look. That is where we left it this afternoon and will continue on tomorrow afternoon. Once we get the stones like we want them we will take it all apart and put it back together but this time we will use foam as a filler and adhesive. Once we finish, the area under the flat stones should be protected from the water and the stones quite secure.

So Joe will have to tough it out for a while. If she subscribes to the 'ol adage of "the early frog gets the bird" then she will be fine. If she puts off hunting until the afternoon then I'm afraid the day will be a bust for her. Of course as it cools her need for food also diminishes.

The Beginning of Torpidity?

We find our hero shivering in the cool morning. Fall is in the air as the morning temperature was trying to sneak into the 40's. Joe was on station last night and again or still on station this morning. When I went out to fill the bird feeder there was definitely a chill in the air.

As I ate breakfast I watched the circus begin. First nothing but Joe. Then a couple of who-who birdies. Then a few sparrows. Then a lot of sparrows. Then the quail arrived. The hummers were next. Everyone invited their friends and there were hundreds of birds about the yard. Birds chasing each other. Little squabbles here and there. Some sparrows landed on the pampas grass fronds and the fronds would bend down, some more than others, depending on the size of the frond and the size of the bird. To me the birds were playing teeter-totter. We were only missing a few clowns and elephants to make the circus complete. WOW!!! What a show.

The hummers must be getting ready to go south as they are drinking the sweet juice pretty fast AND there are up to 4 birds drinking at the sweet juice bar at the same time. In the middle of summer only one bird at a time drinks and if another approaches one of them is chased off. Not so during the migration preparation. It's like they have better things to do than fight over who owns the feeder for the next couple of minutes. The hummers were also feeding at the different flowers in the yard. We must have had about a dozen hummers here this morning.

As you might imagine, with all those birds around there has to be a few that don't know about Joe the eating machine. Joe was on station and here comes this little sparrow hopping down to the water. "Ah geez," I say to myself, "already someone is going to get eaten." The bird is no more than 10 inches from Joe. It is on the same rock as Joe! It is drinking water and has it's back to Joe. An invitation for disaster. If ever there was a bird trying to commit suicide this was the one.

Joe just sat there! The bird finished drinking and stood around for 10 seconds or so and then flew off. Joe never moved a muscle.

A little later I saw Joe had pretty much moved out of the water. Her hind legs were still in the water (see the picture). I think she was trying to warm up. Amphibians are what is referred to as "cold blooded." This means their body temperature is close to that of their surroundings. So when it gets cold they slow down. Eventually slowing almost to a stop as torpidity slowly sets in (as explained in my August 30, 2008 post).

Anyway you look at it today was that little birds lucky day. Who knows what may have happened if the temperature was a few degrees warmer this morning. You never know when your number is up.

While I look forward to the changing seasons I'll miss Mother Nature's Show. Of course I'll be looking forward to a new show in the spring. In the mean time I'm watch'n to see what surprises M.N. pulls off in my backyard this season.

Joe! Is That You?

Looks like the party'n at Joe's Station will no longer be allowed. Joe's back!

Tonight, when I went to close the shade for the large window that looks to the back yard, I saw Joe on station. I went out and asked her where she had been but she just just gave me the look. Geez, even female frogs can give the look. Anyway, there was no prying information from this gal. I'll just say she went over to a friends place for a while... probably ate her friend. That's how she is you know...

Welcome home Joe. Glad to have you back.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

I'm sorry to report that Joe still has not made an appearance. When I went out this morning to fill the bird feeder I thought I saw a movement in the bridge pond. I don't know what the movement was... so Joe is still MIA.

On the other hand the birds are singing that "Over the Rainbow" song... Ding dong, the witch is dead, the mean 'ol witch, the wicked witch.... They are doing this as they hop around the waterfall at Joe's station. They have started bathing again and really seem to be enjoying the water. I wouldn't get too comfortable yet if I were them. Just when you thought it was safe to get into the water....

I'm thinking about how long it takes for Joe to grab a bird and gulp it down. She could be sleeping under the bridge digesting.

I'll continue to keep watch...

Oh Were Oh Were Has My Little Frog Gone...

... Oh were oh were can she be?

I saw Joe yesterday morning in her usual spot. Ginger and I were away all day and when we returned Joe was not to be seen. This isn't unusual since it was late afternoon.

This morning Joe still had not made an appearance. Still not showing her pretty face as of sunset tonight.

Will keep a close watch on the pond in the morning.

Here Joe. Come on little froggie. Good girl...