Can You Find the Fake Rock?

The cloud of doom and melancholy continues to shade the frog-less pond.  Still no clues to Joe's current status.  Be she frolicking in a new pond with tastier birds or flattened on the highway we will never know.  My optimism is just about depleted.  I find myself looking every time I pass the window.... looking for Joe.  The effort is for naught.  But... maybe, just maybe, tomorrow she will find her way back home.  I haven't given up completely... yet.

Not missing Joe in the least are the birds.  They are bathing and fluttering in the waterfalls.  They love their new birdseed and have invited their friends and neighbors over for breakfast.  I've started spreading the seed around the yard.  I put some on different rocks and on the patio.  The birds don't disappoint and spread out to eat it all.  It's still a circus with high flying acts, clowns, gymnastic stunts and just good overall entertainment.

On a positive not there were not sightings of lifeless toadlets on their way to the skimmer or any deceased birds.  No rottweilers or little boys in suits either... whew.

In an effort to move along without Joe in my life I've taken on another pond project.  I've decided that I need to cover or camouflage some of the mechanical stuff by the skimmer.  The challenge here is I need access to this area but I don't want to see it.

To this end I decided to cover it with a plywood board and a fake rock.  Currently it's not very camouflaged me thinks.  On the other hand I have more to do.

I plan to paint the exposed plywood black.  Use some of the Yucky Pucky that I used to build the new waterfalls to attach some gravel to the plywood.  Then I'll add some rocks around the plywood base to breakup the outline.

I think that it will work out OK.

I've attached the plywood with a couple of hinges to a 6X6 pressure treated post.  It is secured to the ground with 3 foot re-bar.  It seems very secure and I don't think it is going to blow away.

It seems like it would be a good place to hide a stash of something.  I laugh because at my age I don't have a stash and I don't have anything that needs hiding.  Maybe when I win the lottery...