Come On Julius--I know You're Out There.

Julius my resident frog just upped and disappeared overnight, the same way he appeared in the first place.

He wasn't noted for doing special tricks and I never heard so much as a twangy croak from him but he had charm and he was loved.



It's hard to tell what's going on here since I played around with the picture, but the china frog on the right is waiting patiently for his pal to reappear. Look closely and you'll spot Julius on the left.

I like to think he left home to find a wife and will return with family in tow.

Recently I visited a garden nursery teeming with croaking frogs; lovely noisy frogs but each one was lacking that certain Julius quality.



Come back Julius. You've missed your curfew.

Behold: a Waterfall

I had a perfectly fine pond and at last count two goldfish frolicked happily at home there.



Was that enough? apparently not because I began dreaming about waterfalls, tiny tinkling little bursts of water making musical sounds while flowing into the pond.

I confided this to my pal the Empress

She sighed ever so gently, gathered up her child and they came along to my favorite stash, a vacant lot scattered with yummy rocks. We hefted all the car could manage without tilting back on its haunches.



After the unloading process that we hope will soon fade from memory, I was allowed to sit on the deck steps ready to fetch and carry, while the Empress did some masterful re-arranging.

There was one glitch and she had to dis-assemble when we discovered that the strongest pump would only attach to the hose where the smallest waterfall was to be, but finally everything was in order.



The only flaw in this beautiful Eden is that every bird in the neighborhood thinks it's the perfect place to take a bath and I'm not sure the fish are happy about this.

The Empress hopes this will keep me happy and unwilling to plan bigger and better for a while.

The Path To Somewhere

This path is making so much progress that it's no longer referred to by its former name, The Path To Nowhere.



I've been planning this microcosm of a yard bit by bit and this is where it began. That enormous dish was removed by the previous owner.



My son Steve came to visit last year and before he had a chance to cry, "Hey, I'm a guest here", he had installed the fish pond.



Then Mike and Lorrie were invited to lunch recently.I want it on record that I gave them a nice lunch and a few minutes to start the digestive process before I handed them the shovels.



A lot of digging and eighteen bags of gravel later and we have this lovely path.

Right now the path ends at the berm, another unfinished project and currently sheltering some leggy vines. I mean, where else does one plant Zucchini and watermelon?

I'm giving my hapless loved ones a rest before I tell them where the path is leading, but don't you hear it crying out, "Lead me to a Japanese Tea House?"

Oh sure you do.