So, how many times have you said to yourself, or others “That was the best thing I ever did”?

Lets be fair, most of us say it about more than one thing in our lives. Best things are a little like celebrities, you have A List things like the partner you chose or the house you live in and then there are the B List things, which don’t have such a huge impact on our lives, but really make a difference. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that there are C List things. If something is good enough to be ranked as “the best thing I ever did”, then it certainly doesn’t rank as a “C”.

Tonight, I was looking at the pond. The level in it has dropped quite a bit as we have been giving the pond its spring clean out. A huge amount of pond weed has been removed, the “gunge” from the bottom has been “hoovered” out and we can finally see our fish again :). So, the pond needed a re-fill.

(If you are wondering what the circular black things in the pond are, they are another “best thing I ever did”. Last year we had a visit from a heron, so we went out and bought some heron protection. I didn’t fancy most of the options as I wanted to still be able to sit on the edge of the pond. Eventually after some searching of the internet, we found these Netfloats. They come in 2 ft from the edge of the pond and mean that a heron can’t get at the fish. Yes, they look a little obvious at the moment, but at least it means that we won’t have the heart ache of losing fish to a heron again. Thankfully, when you are a little further away from the pond they merge into the background as the water looks dark thanks to the black painted inside walls of the pond. Soon the plants will regrow and almost hide the grid.)

Anyway, back to the pond that needed refilling.

In the past this would have been a pain as the outside tap was by the back door and the pond was at the far side of the garden. I know my garden isn’t big, but there is no straight route round to the pond. So not only did I have to fight to get the hose out of its housing, but I had to persuade it that it was not supposed to go on the beds.  Yes, I have lovely hose guides in the shape of frogs, but I really haven’t worked out where to position them to do their job properly – or maybe the curviness of my garden means that they just can’t work.

So this was one of my “best ever thing” moments.  Last year, we had a new bathroom fitted, so while the plumber was working at that end of the house, I asked him to drop a tap down from the bathroom into the garage.  It was only done in late August, so really the watering gardening year was drawing to a close by then.  I went out and bought myself a second hose and I was ready. 

Tonight all I had to do to fill the pond was open the garage door, wind out a few feet of hose and turn the tap on – sooo easy :).  Then I could sit back and watch the fish as the water levels returned to where they should be – result.