The Cottage Smallholder

Irises in our pond last year

I left you last with the poor little pump having died within a few hours. I tried all the normal resuscitation techniques, cleaning and pulling the pump apart, changing the fuse. But like that famous Norwegian Blue parrot it was dead and had passed onto that big pumping station in the sky.

When we last used the old pond pump it blew the circuit. We have a special trip-switch fuse board so that if I’m absent minded and mow over the electrical cable I will survive to tell the tale. But there was another possible culprit – the waterproof switch box. A new switch box is about £25. A new pump of a suitable size for the pond is between £200 – £300. I clambered down into the pond and managed to hack the pump from the Sleeping Beauty roots of the irises. With any luck it would be the switch that was faulty.

I cleaned out the pump and then rushed back to the barn to get the giant JoJo (extension cable) reel. Lowered the pump into the pond and switched on. There were three reassuring gurgles and then silence. Danny found me trying to sort out the source of the problem.
“A circuit has gone down. It must be the pump,” he suggested.
“Well it did work for a bit. It definitely glugged.”
When I pulled out the pump for a major examination I noticed two small nicks in the cable.

All that I needed to do was to rewire the pump.
“If you manage to do this. I will kneel and kiss your muddy boots. Ten times over.”

It’s great to have a partner that has confidence in my electrical endeavours.

When I opened up the motor, it was absolutely obvious how to rewire it and I did that. I carried the pump down to the pond puffed up with pride. Plugged it in and nothing happened. A few minutes later I discovered that I had plugged in the Magimix rather than the JoJo reel.

Finally the pump leapt into action – pumping 150 litres a minute into the kitchen garden. Tiny hands clapped with glee and Danny refused to kiss my boots offering a takeaway as a celebratory ‘pump fixing’ alternative. I left about a foot of water in the pond as frog couples were already arriving for the frog fest.

We worked like daemons to cut the silt level from 6” to approximately 2”. Some silty mud is good but not too much. It was then that I spotted a dead fish in the reeds. It was decaying but clearly had just been dead for a few weeks. I put it in a bag well out of Min Pin reach and carried on clearing the silt, cutting back the reeds and avoiding amorous frogs.

The next morning I came downstairs to find The Contessa with muddy legs. She was guilty and clearly upset, lying like a dead thing on the sofa. There was sick all over the sofa, our comfy armchairs and the kitchen floor. Very smelly sick. She clearly had devoured the fish. I dialled the emergency vet’s number.

To be continued tomorrow…