Raucous toad's habitat

This is what I hear first thing upon waking in the morning and last thing before I fall asleep at night.  Meet our Raucous Toad...

I'd brought him home as a teeny tiny little thing, truly no larger than the nail on my ring finger.  He'd hopped across my path and I took it to be serendipitous as I'd been wanting a frog to take up residence in the pond (we'd tried unsuccessfully in the past to relocate tadpoles).  Anyway, I assumed he was a little frog, of the sweet, clicking, chirping kind.  Looks can be so deceiving.  He grew up to be this Raucous Toad (seriously, that's his zoological name, and raucous he certainly is...but in a very nice way, thankfully, as he serenades us all...night...long!  I added the floating pond weed just for him and he LOVES it :)  Remains suspended for hours at a time, trying out his repertoire of croaky notes and sometimes strings enough of them together to make us believe he's working on a melody!  The photograph is courtesy of my husband - now, HE knows how to take a great picture! I have lots to learn.

Hi, Everyone - I'm rather raucous and a bit of a toad, really, but, warts and all, I'm kinda cute if you'll take the time to get to know me!  Look at my lovely string of pearls beneath my chin.  I'm really quite a handsome fellow - would you like to kiss me, then?

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This is what I see first thing each morning upon opening the blinds of my bedroom window and again, last thing in the evening when I close up for the night...the garden is lit subtly throughout at night and that's when it's at its most appealing to me.  I love the stillness and can spend hours out there, quietly taking it all in.

Looking directly out of the window ahead - one of my garden benches has pride of place here, so I can watch the wild fish in the pond and enjoy the view of the garden from this favoured spot.

Turning my eyes ever so slightly to the left, this is what I see.

Looking ever so slightly to the right...

Seen from a few steps to your right...

Nose almost pressed to the windowpane now...

Looking across to the window from the far side of the bedroom (I used the zoom facility on my little point 'n shoot to take this shot).

Still inside and close to the window, but looking up at the trees now...this one is the Japanese elm.

And glancing left, but still skywards, you can see the weeping willow tree, favoured by nesting squirrels two years in a row.  It was a real treat as we were entertained by their antics whilst lying in bed.

Still inside the bedroom, but now looking out of the open window to have a clearer view of the pond.

Slightly zooming in a bit in this one.

Now, focussing more over to the righthand side of the pond (love my rock with a natural indentation in it - I have peace-in-the-home growing in it).

The sun pushing through the treed canopy just at this moment...

And now, we'll step outdoors and take an even closer look at the pond...

Peace-in-the-home & pond weed clearly visible here

Both statues visible here - the one behind the clump of arums pours water into the pond from her urn.  Water gently tumbles down the rock feature to the right of the second statue and also comes down the basins visible in the centre of the picture.  The pond pump switches on at 6h30 and goes off at 9h00. 

A nice closeup of my treasured rock.

Arum lilies are indigenous to the Western Cape and grow wild - I never tire of their magnificently regal blooms.

Close-up of the OCD lady - she cannot help herself - pours water all day!

The pond surround and the waterfall are artifical rock. 

Oh, now she wants to pose for a close-up, too!  See how the moss has covered the natural rock nesting in one of the artifical rock basins - I love moss!  You can see my greenhouse peeping through the trees at centre.

Sorry, I just can't help myself - I want to look at it all up close!  It looks even more lovely when I've waved the hose over everything - then it all glistens and the rock takes on a darker hue.  I'll have to take a few more pictures of that, too, sometime.

For now, I'll add a picture, taken earlier today, of the moss that's started to cover the brick floor in my greenhouse and, since the theme today is water, I'll
include a couple of others (also taken in the greenhouse today), of my little water feature.

Those new bricks have gradually become cloaked in glorious soft green mosses giving my greenhouse the aura of age that I so love!

Floated a few pansies in the waterfeature today...

This is all the magic I need to feed my soul :)

The maidenhair fern is lush and spreading, the fuchsia is covered in beautiful white flowers that have a soft pink central stamen.  I tried to take a close-up but failed hopelessly.  I'll have to enlist my husband to do so for me this weekend ;)

 

For now, it's over & out from me - hope you all have a wonderful day!

For flowers that bloom about our feet;
For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;
For song of bird, and hum of bee;
For all things fair we hear or see,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee!
~Ralph Waldo Emerson