All I asked was did one start at the top or the
bottom. Never did get a civilized answer.

OK, OK, I apologize (again) for my flip answer. In my opinion, you are doing it
right. I have a pond at the foot of a nicely sloped area. One year I built
the pond. The next year I built about 20' of stream/waterfall feeding into it.
The 3rd year I built another 30' of stream/waterfalls for a total of 50'. In
that 50' of stream I have maybe 10 small pools where the water can "rest"
before spilling into the next one. I found it was easiest to dig from the pond
up. Far better for your back too!

Hope this is helpful,
Gary