The lily pads in the lake behind the house, lovely as they are, have become somewhat of a nuisance. The beavers love them, which in turn draws them temptingly close to the trees in the yard.

After much thought, Mike and I agreed that the water lilies needed to go. That was the first step, but then the reality of our dilemma set in.

As with most other things in life there were many things to consider. For one thing, the beautiful baby ducks and geese also enjoy munching on the greenery, so the thought of putting poison on it didn’t sit well with me. Even though the package states that the vegetation killer is safe for aquatic use, I didn’t feel comfortable.

When we lived in the country, Mike and I decided to use poison to control the vegetation on our pond. We carefully followed the directions, but came outside a couple of days later to the pitiful sight of our catfish and bass floating belly up. True, it had been unseasonably hot, which may have contributed to the fish kill, but I didn’t want to take any chances.

Fortunately for us, a young strong fellow happened to be at the house. We began discussing the lake situation and he knew how to take care of it. Roy had helped a friend clean out his pond and felt sure he could use a boat anchor and rake to take care of our problem.

What Roy thought he could accomplish in one afternoon has morphed into a three-day project. We agreed upon a price, but it would be unfair to hold him to it. We did a little renegotiation and came up with something agreeable for both parties.

The project is almost complete and the lake looks awesome. Yes, the lake is beautiful, but the edge of the backyard adjoining the lake, not so much. Actually, the smell is pretty bad too. My neighbors act like they like me, but I may be more of a country bumpkin than they bargained for.

It is true that sometimes my great ideas make a pretty big mess. Now I’m trying to figure out what to do with all the muck and roots stinking up the backyard. In my ignorance, I thought we could let the stuff dry and burn it. That is so not going to happen!

As we all know, one project usually leads to another. And the amount of money needed is usually more than we plan for. Maybe a sandy beach look is in order. I wonder how much that will cost?

Jan Penton Miller can be reached at lilsisjan@yahoo.com.