Pleasure in small things

 First posted January 2008

Last summer the Squire was looking for a new home for a clamshell style paddling pool/sand pit that her children had grown out of. 

Fester sometimes accidentally brings home living tadpoles or other mini-beasts in his water body surveys.  The water butt was ok as a temporary home, but hardly ideal.  We’d wanted to put some sort of garden pond in my garden so the Squire brought the paddling pool up to our house. 

The two halves were put into each other to make a double skin, it was pushed into the corner of the lawn and we surrounded it with old bricks and planters.  These both hold it in place and provide lots of little cavities for insects and other crawling things to make homes in.

As it’s quite steep sided we made a staircase of old bricks so that hedgehogs and any other animals that fall in can get out again.  This also provides a variety of depths of water and hiding places for underwater beasties.  We also put in Byron, a nice big water snail to keep down the algae.

This breakfast time I noticed a splashing in the pond.

A hen blackbird was standing on the top step of the water-escape having an enthusiastic bath.  When she’d completely wet herself she hopped up to the top twigs of the rowan tree and found a spot where the sun was shining between us and next door.  There she preened, fluffed and dried herself off in the sunshine.

It’s made my morning.

 And today 

The little pool is still going strong and has given me hours of pleasure.

We first filled it up with rainwater from the butt and it refills and refreshes when it rains, with any excess dribbling out of the front.  Leaves have drifted in, sunk and quietly rotten to form a lovely humic base level for some creatures to eat and others to hide in. Algae has grown around the edges.  Frogspawn has appeared for the past five years or so, and frogs visit throughout the spring and summer to hang and cool in the water.

Any fine day will find me sitting next to the pond watching the growing tadpoles grazing the algae, the myriad microcrustacea, the tiny water snails and insects skimming across the surface.  My garden chair is sunny in winter and rowan leaf shaded in summer.  It's my place for peace and contemplation.  My sanctuary.

Most summer nights I creep down the garden with a torch to catch the big seedling chomping wall snails who gather there for a drink.

And, if I'm very lucky, when I look out of the window I still sometimes see a splashing bathing bird.