Something stinks in the backyard! Oh, that? It’s just our salamander swamp.
How often are you supposed to clean a pond? We have lived here for 2 years and never have cleaned out the pond by the pump house. After emptying the water we discovered that is was probably last cleaned during the Clinton administration… possibly first term. Yikes. The pea gravel bottom was mixed with ankle deep sludge. Max rescued the baby salamanders and put them in a bucket… good thought until we found the raccoons dining on them in the middle of the night. 🙁
Steve braves the sludgey muck and removes the mess one wheel barrow at a time. He dumped most of it in the parking strip next to the driveway. 10 loads later and the pond was empty. After checking for leaks and arranging some loose rock it was ready for new river rock.
I first bought 5- 50 lb. bags of river rock… not even close to enough. So back to the store. 10 bags total to cover the bottom. It’s a bigger area than I expected. Rocks in, moss scrubbed off the waterfall, accent lights positioned… we were ready for water. (We turned on the hose and watch 3 episodes of 30 Rock on DVD while the pond filled.)
(I thought it would be funny to pose like the guy in American Gothic, but it doesn’t work so well without the girl and Haley wouldn’t climb down there. I look pretty mean, anyways, huh? haha)
Night time photo with the flash.
Without the flash! Awwww. The red flood light the looks really red in the photo, but I like how it shines up through the decking.
The waterfall has yellow, red and blue accent spotlights. I love it at night and the sweet sound of the waterfall outside our bedroom door is wonderful.
