Pond maintenance

We woke to a white world and garden.  There was even a little ice on the pond (on the right of this picture).  There were also many leaves.  

Leaves add nutrition to the pond, which is BAD (encourages algae).  So it is important to remove as many as possible.  A cold, tedious job.  Shortly after taking this photo, I was kneeling beside the cascade area, removing leaves by hand.

And an hour later, it was raining, and the snow was all gone.  But it's still cold.  Look forward to settling in front of the woodburner again tonight, but first I have to visit Dad.