Or maybe I should say lack of progress due to unseasonal weather and
very heavy rain - almost 3" fell today with the max being 1" in an hour
- I would gladly send it to Galen, Jim/Phyllis or anyone else who wants
it. Heavy rain with only the odd respite has pretty much been the story
since I started on the pond......it has been a long, slow project....

Apart from the weather the first problem we hit was a very large block
of concrete running through the middle of the pond......we got a
pneumatic drill and broke it up only to find it was the soakaway to
remove rainwater from the house foundations (we had suspected it was
close but had thought it was further over). So we then had to repair the
drainage pipe - there will be a ridge down the middle of the pond around
18" under but I can live with that - good place to stick plants :-)

The pond at max depth will be 3 foot.....the shape and size of the pond
has developed with the project and the fact that the garden slopes
towards the house giving the choice of building up near the house and
sinking the other end or doing it the other way round but bringing the
pond up to the level of the decking. We have opted to bring it up to the
level of the deck but means that we have to find a way of fencing in the
deck to prevent stray visitors (party guests, toddlers, dog etc...) from
falling in. The little one has already fallen into the excavation work
but learnt her lesson pretty quickly.....the dog bounds in and out of it
having discovered it is fun to drop his toys into a deep hole and then
retrieve them....I forsee a great shock when it eventually gets filled
with water and one very soggy doggy....

I haven't measured the size or calculated the volume yet as I'm waiting
until we finally finish the digging and shaping but I'm guessing it is
already over 500 gall if not quite a bit more.....

Until the rain came in again overnight we had a couple of sunny days so
I made quite a bit of progress and have now started building up the
sides to level it off....parts almost look like a real pond now (well a
real pond shape at least). I reckon there is another day's work on
finalising the excavation and levelling off - however the problem is
when this work can take place - we have rain forecast through until at
least Tuesday next week and then the pond needs time to dry out/drain. I
was at the LFS the other day whinging about my efforts and the fact that
the pond was filling before I was getting a chance to get a liner in and
it is pretty much the same story with anyone locally.....

I've given up all idea of getting any fish in there this year - at best
I might get some plants and some frogs in there to overwinter....but at
least it will give me the opportunity to get the landscaping how I want
it rather than rushing it in my enthusiasm to get it established.....we
shall see though - you never know we might get a heatwave (vain hope
though I'm sure)

Gill