So, I won't leave y'all hanging (all three of you) - my mother called back, they'll keep my dad in the hospital overnight but the tests run so far didn't look too dire and he's feeling better now. He sounded cranky when I talked to him, I'm sure my mother is driving him nuts. The cardiologist will come see him in a bit. I'm so glad I'm such a lazy burnout, I didn't jump in the car and rush over there.

I also didn't sit on the couch and knit yet. I couldn't take the condition of the pond another minute, I went out there and disconnected the useless pain-in-the-ass UV filter and rerouted the pump through the nearly-as-useless-and-even-worse-to-clean biofilter only, added a lot of water because after the UV filter blew out it spewed water and lowered the water level about 14 inches (out of a 30 inch depth at its lowest point). Water is flowing again. It looks like a sewage treatment plant, but water is flowing. I added water, dumped a ton of water balancing stuff and Microbe-Lift in there (fantastic stuff) and will cross my fingers that the water clears a bit and the fish survive my not-so-tender ministrations.

When I was a new pond keeper I was so religious about maintenance - water was tested and balanced, treatments were measured with a measuring cup, the water was so clear, everything was just so - then my husband got sick, the pond got ignored, slime grew, sludge took root, and yet everything lived. So much for those anal-retentive Pond Nazis and their "You MUST do as ve say!" pond-maintenance rules. Now I'm a way more casual pond owner, meaning I treat it with benign neglect, and it's teeming with happy life, including some comically timid frogs who scream - yes, scream, not croak - and hide when I go out there. Big fat snails. 10 gorgeous fantail goldfish. I hope I don't screw up the nasty balance of the brown, soupy water by trying to clear it a bit. That would suck.

Now I think I'll go sit on the couch and start a Booga bag out of some pretty blue and lavender and pink Kureyon. I need mindless knitting. And a beer.