Thursday, July 19, 2012

A Big Project

There is a small, old pond on my property....


It is pretty to look at and is a haven for frogs, salamanders and turtles.  However, over the many years since it was built, it has filled in and become very shallow and mucky.  It has become a great place for mosquitoes to breed.  I have wanted to have it dredged and re-dug since I first saw it.  I want it to remain a haven for amphibians, but I also have dreams of  swimming in my little pond, an activity that holds no appeal in it's current state.  Last year, after nearly giving up, I finally found an excavator willing to take on the project and after much discussion, worry and anxiety, I decided to have the pond fixed.  And then it started raining.  It kept raining until we had the worst flooding this area has ever seen.  Fortunately, my home is on very high ground so I wasn't much affected by the floods, but pond work couldn't be done in such muck and flood damage repair took precedence.  As it should. 

Right now, we are in the middle of a drought.  Farmers are rightfully worried about their crops and I am very glad we have the barn filled with hay.  We are going to need it.  However, it is the perfect time for pond repairs and I just got word from the excavator that he intends to start working on it this week.  I wasn't sure this was going to happen at all.  I had to pester the guy a bit and he originally told me he couldn't get to it till September which I was very unhappy with.  Since the job got postponed last year I was supposed to be at the top of the list this year and waiting for September to do excavating work has had disastrous results for me in the past.  The excavating for my house kept getting postponed until it was done (with much reassurance, but against my better judgement) in late Fall and I am still dealing with problems caused by that.  July and August are the time to do excavating in NY. 

I am excited and anxious about this project, it is something I have wanted for a long time.  It is a big, expensive job that I don't have much control over and my experiences with contractors have not been favorable to date.  This guy did repair work last year on my original excavating mess and he did a good job.  He comes highly recommended.  He is not cheap.  He did fit the job in in July as I wanted. 

Lord, I hope this works.

2 comments:

  1. We have a frog pond too :-D. And actually call it the frog pond. I planted native plants and grasses around it and have just let it go. We talked about dredging it out last drought, but I was worried about frogs...hibernating underground :-/.

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  2. Wonderful! This article is a very inspirational one. Thanks for sharing the information.That was really a mind-boggling share.
    Pond Repairs

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