On 23 Apr 2007 22:14:17 -0700, Mike C wrote:

As I stated in the initial post, I have a contemporary house and
garden. Anything age will look out of place. That is why I was looking
for something smooth or at least no aged looking.

In the box stores cement section they sell a material in a yellow
bag. I use that in linear molds, pressing into it words with plastic
letters and the appearance is smooth. If you want, you can buy it and
trowel it on till it's smooth and square. You may have to fashion
some type of support structure for the top of the troth so it remains
squared off with a crisp end. Did I explain that well? I think the
stuff I buy has some type of acrylic in it. You can also use Portland
cement because as far as I know there is no aggregate in it as
concrete would have. It also can be troweled on to square things off.