A Three - NO Four! Frog Day

A Three – NO Four Frog Day!

            We have a water cascade in our garden.  It has been covered up for several years as the owner of the house filled it in when his children were little.  We stumbled upon it when we were pulling out a particularly large weed and the gardener stepped into the deep end.  Long story short, the pump still worked but there were some holes in the membrane and we’ve been busy caulking and patching the stone work and concrete so we can run it and stop losing water.

            Today was the day to replace the membrane.  I have two fish living in the bottom waterfall pond section so that they can eat the mosquito larvae.   My helper (he does all the work but I have the money so I get to be the boss LOL) arrived and we gathered some buckets.  The best way to fix the holes and leaks in the membrane would be to just take out the old and put in a new.  Luckily the owner had provided me with a large hunk of fresh membrane.  So he starts pulling out water.  I warn him that there are two fish in there and he is able to catch one.  I also saw a frog in there this morning so he’s looking for the frog too.  He catches the frog and I take it and put it in the bigger fish pond on the lily pad.  By the time I got back to the waterfall, my helper had found another frog!  OK, it goes over to the bigger fish pond as well.

            By now, the water level is getting low.  I swipe the net through the water a couple of times and come up with the other fish.  He joins his pal in a bucket and later I put them in the one part of the waterfall/cascade that doesn’t have a leak and has enough water for them and enough mosquito larvae to keep them busy for a few days.  There is maybe 6” of water remaining in the lower pond.  My helper suddenly spies another frog that is decidedly unhappy with the dwindling water.  We fish him out of the pond and he goes to join his pals in the larger pond.  I set them all on a lily pad but by the time I return, they are gone.

            Wow, three frogs.  I knew there were two in the yard but didn’t realize they were both in the cascade.  Finally, we are almost out of water in the basin when my helper says, OMG, here’s another frog, a fourth frog!  He was hiding in the mud at the bottom.  He’s lucky we didn’t pull out the membrane with him in it and throw him onto the yard.  We caught him and he gets put on a lily pad too. 

            So four frogs!  My helper thinks they were living at the bottom of the basin in a layer of mud.  Quite possible and now we’ve put in a new membrane and there’s no mud there.  Well, they are in the bigger pond with most of the fish and I hope they are happy there for a while because I don’t think I can find them and catch them to put them back.  Wish they would do a better job of eating small insects though.  If they had done their job, never would have had to put the fish in the basin with them. 

Sandhurst Royal Military College Heritage Day

Sandhurst Royal Military College Heritage Day

June 17, 2012

            What a lovely way to spend Father’s Day – go do something military like.  So it was we ended up at Sandhurst today and also because it seems to be the only day of the year that the general public is invited onto Sandhurst grounds.  The military college is only a few miles from us which explains why we can often hear them firing on the range and often see helicopters flying to or from the college.  We had wanted to see it so away we went.

            Obviously we are not the only ones wanted to see Sandhurst as there was a line to get into the car park but we made it and then there was the walk.  OMG.  Sandhurst is huge!  We walked about 2 miles from the car park before we got to the buildings and tents and happenings.  OK, maybe it wasn’t quite 2 miles but it was over a mile.  And Sandhurst is beautiful.  We are walking by a lake and through a forest and it doesn’t’ see as if there is anything around us.  Guess it helps when you have to march a lot or run that you are marching and running through a beautiful place. 

            Finally we get to the Heritage Day grounds and darned if a bus didn’t pull up right next to us.  We could have ridden from the car park!  It was free to enter the grounds but you were encouraged to buy a program which was really necessary to see where things were but a bargain for only 3 pounds.  We were advised by the lovely gentlemen selling first day covers of Sandhurst envelopes with Queen Elizabeth stamps that we should go to the main building first and look around in there and later to the chapel and if time, to the new college.  We certainly didn’t have enough time.

            We wandered into the old college and through the halls where we were allowed.  There were many a young man or woman in full dress blues standing where you weren’t allowed to go but all were friendly and polite and albeit a probably great bloody hassle to have a Heritage Day, they all seemed happy to have people come and look at their academy.  There were things for sale, of course.  Anything British will have vendors selling the dominate theme of the day.  So a lot of military memorabilia for sale including from their iconic “Dad’s Army” television show of years gone past.  I got a magnet and a wonderful bear dressed in camouflage.  Kids had a whole area to themselves with rides and such and there was a very long line of kids waiting to get on an actual British war horse and ride it around the ring – of course being led by a handler. 

            The rooms where we were allowed to see were al lovely and many with wonderful paintings of battles or portraits of famous generals of people who have helped with Sandhurst.  Also stained glass windows of past battles.  In many parts of the building were lists – lists of heroes, lists of the fallen, lists of the awarded.  Very interesting, every part.

            We wandered out to the chapel which is way larger than a chapel usually is but still didn’t seem to have that many seats.  Someone was playing the pipe organ or practicing because when we walked into the chapel, the music was bright and militaristic marching type music.  When we walked out, they were playing “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies”.

            Decided to go for some Gurka curry.  For 4 pounds, you were entitled to rice, chicken or pork curry, pappdams, and salad.  We snuck in through the back way first but had to go back to the tent to get our ticket and then were served enough for 3 meals.  If this is what the men and women eat while on duty, it’s a good thing they run a lot because otherwise they’d all need new uniforms every few months!  What a lot of food.  The curry wasn’t overly spicy but the chutney was.

            We saw one demonstration where they were carrying artillery over an obstacle which really wasn’t there but just in case it was, they set up their blocks and tackle and relay and got that canon over the “stream” and back into working order and fired just lickety split.  Most impressive.  We missed them doing the tent pegging which is where they ride furiously at a small “peg” on the ground and must spear it and ride away with it.  We’d seen this at the Royal Windsor Horse Show and had been impressed by it.

            Finally it was time to leave as we had other tasks waiting for us.  It was too bad we couldn’t have arrived at opening and left at closing but one day a year still wouldn’t have been enough to see everything that Sandhurst has to offer.  If one has to be in the military, one should definitely try for Sandhurst.