The pool was opened yesterday. Temperature upon opening: 60 degrees F. brrrr. All seemed to be well until a few hours later when I noticed water spraying up on the deck from somewhere. Uh oh. It was coming out of the top of the pool’s water filter like a sprinkler! So, I had to turn the pump off and wait for Dennis, our pool person, to come and take a look.

Turns out that our filter is about 20 years old or so and they don’t make replacement tops or parts for it anymore. Just our luck. Things seem to be more challenging this year what with Johnny’s issues and all. We knew it was getting pretty old so it’s not really too unexpected. Tomorrow we’ll have the new filter installed and be up and running to get the pool in condition.

This morning I got out the skimmer because I could see several little toads in the water. Two were still swimming and two were doing the dead man’s float. I rescued them all and am proud to say that after they sat around and regained their body temperatures back they all hopped off. Not such a happy ending for the chipmunk that I also had to fish out of the water. Poor little guy! They are used to running across the pool cover so he must have been taken by surprise to find it was missing.

Our chippees know they can jump in the pool to escape the cats.  They can swim for a long time and the smarter ones swim around the edge of our pool until they get to the ladder.  The still can’t get out, but will wait for me and my net to save them.

Maggie, maybe this one didn’t know how to swim or he jumped in at night and couldn’t keep up the chippy stroke any longer. Still, it’s sad. Yesterday morning I fished out a dead vole and this morning a dead mouse. Gross.

Another sad chippy story…. someone I met over the week-end has a friend who fills a bucket 1/2 way with water and covers the water with a layer of sunflower seeds.  Then she builds a ramp up to the bucket.  Apparently the chipmunk will fall in trying to get the seed and then can’t get out :(  Guess she doesn’t like the Chipmunks in her garden.

Maggie, that’s pretty cruel! :( Poor little guys.