“I nearly started crying …”
When Roisin Quinn bought her new home, she immediately started thinking about all the renovations needed to turn the fixer-upper into her dream house. As an interior designer, she was excited to take on the challenge and already had a long list of projects in mind.
But one day, while looking over the property’s pond, her plans changed unexpectedly.
The pond was covered in duckweed, and Quinn and her partner were wondering how they would ever clean it up. Then, suddenly, Quinn noticed movement in the water. A tiny pair of eyes appeared above the green surface.
To her surprise, a little frog was staring back at her.
Quinn was amazed that anything was living in the pond at all. The water was so covered in duckweed that she hadn’t expected to find signs of life there. But instead of being startled, she was completely charmed.
The frog looked so sweet peeking out from the green-covered water that Quinn thought he looked as if he were wearing a tiny green hat. She later named him Herbie.
After a few minutes, Herbie disappeared back into the pond, but Quinn couldn’t stop thinking about him. Before meeting him, the pond had been near the bottom of her renovation list. Afterward, it quickly became one of her top priorities.
She decided that if Herbie had chosen the pond as his home, she wanted to make it safer and more comfortable for him.
Soon, Quinn began planning small improvements to turn the pond into a cozy little frog haven. But before long, she discovered Herbie wasn’t alone. A second frog appeared, and Quinn named this one Sherbie.
Seeing Sherbie made her even happier. She loved knowing Herbie had a companion and wasn’t living by himself in the pond. From the way the two frogs behaved, Quinn felt they seemed bonded.
Now that there were two frogs to care about, Quinn became even more determined to protect their habitat.
She carefully cleared some of the duckweed, but not all of it, since the frogs seemed to like having some cover. She left wooden branches near the water so they could climb out when they wanted. She also kept trailing ivy around the pond to give them safe places to hide.
Quinn even planned to make little frog houses around the area to give Herbie and Sherbie extra shelter.
While renovations on the rest of the home have now begun, the pond has become one of the most special parts of the property. Quinn is still excited to transform the house, but Herbie and Sherbie have made the garden feel alive in a way she never expected.
Recently, she even spotted another frog near the garage. She placed him near the pond and now hopes he may be part of Herbie and Sherbie’s little family.
What started as a simple home renovation project has become something much sweeter: a mission to create a peaceful garden sanctuary for the tiny frogs who were there first.