" A Little Hope, Faith and a Lot of Perseverance ! "

Well as you may or may not know, I have been working on a toad house for a toad that I had found in my yard a few weeks back.

Sadly I haven't seen "Mr. Toad" since right after I started this project.

I found the directions for the project online and since I had already started it, I decided that I would go ahead with it despite the absence of "Mr. Toad". I really liked the way that this finished product looked online, very natural, and thought that I would just forge ahead since I already had the supplies. 

It was a fairly simple project yet time consuming , sort of like a jig saw puzzle. An 8 inch clay pot, small rocks and glue was really all that was needed. I had to break part of the pot that was to be buried as to allow a toad to burrow. After that I wet sanded the sharp edges with a sanding block. After all we wouldn't want a little fellow or gal to get cut while burrowing!

You can only glue a few inches of rock at a time, so I would just sit and work on it here and there.

At first I was using a bit too much glue as I discovered that it didn't dry clear. After that though I got the hang of it rather quickly. It was fun to do. Quite relaxing really!


The following photo is what the area looked like before I started construction on " The Toad Hop Inn " project. 

This is the area where I kept seeing "Mr. Toad" a few weeks earlier. If you haven't read my posting about the toad earlier, I will tell you that I was so excited to see him. I love toads, frogs and lizards. This was the first toad that we had ever seen in our yard in the eleven years we have been living here. This was truly one of those times that I felt like a little girl again. That RARELY happens to me anymore. So when I no longer saw him, I was awfully, awfully disappointed.


But I didn't give up on the project. If nothing else it would just add a little more interest to the yard.


So yesterday, Sunday, I started to break ground. I must admit that I felt somewhat like a developer on a much smaller scale! Once I broke ground I was very careful as I dug. I couldn't help feeling that glimmer of hope of seeing "Mr. Toad" again although I was quite sure that he was gone.


When digging a hole for this toad house, you must loosen the dirt quite a bit. If a toad were to live inside, he would also need to burrow deep to escape enemies. Luckily for me the dirt was fairly loose and I also noticed a hole where I was digging, about the size of a toad. 


Once the hole was dug , gently of coarse, I put the toad house in place. As I was getting ready to fill the toad house half full with dirt, something caught my eye. Just to the left of me I spied a sweet and happy surprise!

Oh he was very hard to see. And I was so grateful that I was being very careful where I was placing the loose dirt! 

Now I know that this may sound silly to most of you but I must tell you that at that moment, I felt pure joy! Something else I don't feel much anymore.



So now I am even more into my construction project, being careful to try to make a toad friendly environment . I had read a few things online that helped me with deciding what was needed for the area.


Clay planter dishes filled with water and if possible a light that attracts bugs at night. Plenty of leafy shade plants for the toad to hide under. And absolutely no pesticides of any kind ! Here is the final result of my project.

The toad house itself is a bit hard to see. But that is the point after all!

So I guess perseverance can pay off. My little friend "Mr. Toad" is still around, at least for now. I will also tell you that being in my yard so much lately has really made me feel closer to my mom, I know that she would have enjoyed this project so much! 

Now we can all sleep well tonight knowing that there is one little toad that has some awesome digs ! No pun intended. 


Nighty night all!