Before I had my pond, I had my flamingos. Three tall boys, molded in iron and outlined with pink rope lights, they are my favorite outdoor accents. From the moment I first saw them at Boscov's, I knew they had to come home with me. And, at $29.99 minus register roulette, the price was right too.

The first year, they stood dutifully around our inground 20-gallon fountain. It was under their pink glow that I first saw Hank, mistaking him for a "frog statue". (I quickly realized as I walked past, that I didn't have a frog statue.) Hank loved the flamingos too. Night after hot summer night, he sat by them, waiting for their hot pink flare to attract insects for dinner.

And even though I've been told that rope lights only have so many hours in them and then they're done, I thought my boys would last forever ... sadly, this year it was not meant to be. I should've seen it coming, only last year one of the guy's legs didn't light. I cleverly hid it behind some dwarf fountan grass and no one was the wiser. But this year, the really big guy on the end's whole head and neck won't light and even the third guy has lights out. It is with a heavy heart that I'm going to put them out for trash pick up tonight ...

The pond just isn't the same without the flamingos. I have some kind of special lighting for around the pond for each season. Sure we have a light in the pond, but the lighting around the pond makes it more festive. I have Jack O'Lantern and skull lights for the fall, giant Christmas bulbs and/or candy canes for winter and giant Easter eggs for spring. (The Easter eggs were still up until this weekend, because I can't find a suitable summer replacement!)

But yesterday, I finally caved and put up some decorative patio lights on green fence stakes hidden in the tall grass. It's a bit dull and I'm on the lookout for something better. Oh sure, I can find more flamingos easily online, but they've gone up in price too. Now they're about $24.99 just for one! Maybe I'll check that old standby eBay, if you can't find it there, they don't make it!

Don't feel to bad for me, there's still that 7 ft. rope light palm tree in the basement (it's a bit bright when fully lit), and, I do have a rope light crab at our vacation home. Maybe he'd look pretty good up against the grasses ... hmmmm. I'll let you know.

By the way, I put out the solar tiki lights and they all lit up last night! They'd better, they were just brand new last year!