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Two photos cunningly juxtaposed! The gadget in the middle is a chimenea - an open air, terracotta fireplace. It sits on the area that will become patio, with a retaining wall for the rockery and fountains behind it. To the left - I begin to dig footings for the wall round the left side of the pond. |
| This is an
exercise in vanity. Yes, I admit it. But I plan
to re-landscape my garden (which Americans call a yard).
The major art piece will be a huge pond; well, huge
enough for my limited space. I want it done by Christmas,
complete with all the surrounding plants, so that when
spring comes it is a wonder of life and colour. This page
will log my progress and eventually carry photographs of
stages of the work. DAY 1. Sat October 3rd. I take my concept to the garden for real. Buy stakes and twine from Home Depot and then try to stake out the area and shape of the pond. It looks dreadful. Time for geometry. Figure out center for the main curve by trial and error. Change stakes. Looks good. Tighten the curve round the top end with another focus. Looks even better. Complete the design using more geometry. Walk round it and visualize it a lot. Make minor adjustments. Sleep on it. DAY 2. Sun October 4th. Buy mattock from Home Depot. Break it within one minute and take it back, indignant. You should not even stock this trash, I tell them. Buy Railway pickaxe instead. This does the job. Slowly, wondering when the heart attack will come, I dig the main trench along the large curve. 18 feet, 15 inches deep. Enough to lay concrete to support a low, flemish bond wall. Take serial photographs. There is a long way to go. The next few days were spent in serious physical recovery. Stiffness. Aches. DAY 3. Sun October 10th. Started early. Dug another 18 feet of footings, right round the top and tighter bend. It's a shame to stop here since there's not much left, but I have run out of energy. Exhausted! And I know it. But what is pleasing is that I was fitter than last week. This IS a good workout. Maybe a couple of evenings this week will see it finished. DAY 4. Sat October 17th. Lovely sunny morning. Completed digging out the footings. Hammered in the leveling pegs for concrete pouring next weekend. Hey - this physical work is making me fitter. This week I must calculate the materials and get them delivered. Brian from across the road will go in halves with me in November to rent a trenching machine when we both prepare for our sprinkler systems. But before then I have to read up how to design them. DAY 5. Sat October 25-25th. With the use of me neighbor's truck brought home 3000 pounds of ready to mix concrete - and lifted it all of the truck myself! Mr Muscle. DAY 6. Sun October 25th. Gina came to help. Between us we mixed and poured concrete into the footings. Well over a ton! Great job. Next we hire in the day work guys and dig the pond proper! Oh - I ache all over. DAY 7. Sun November 1st. Yesterday I had to get the wheel on the wheel barrow fixed and then cruise around the local Swap Meet for more garden tools. Today, after a good staged reading of our entire Christmas Show I came back and started digging the pond out MYSELF!! I feel great. Wonderful exercise in the late afternoon Californian sunshine. Maybe I'll do all of it - just for fun. DAY 8. Mon November 2nd. Bought fabba floodlights on tripod from Home Depot. Now I can work in the dark evenings. Dug for a full hour, slowly removing the top layer with all the turf. DAY 9. Tues November 3rd. Another hour of digging. Hey - I have muscles growing. DAY 10. Sun November 8th. It took the rest of the week to recover from Mon and Tues. But today I completed digging out the whole turf area. The started going down the next level. This is easier since there is no fibrous mat of grass to get through and also as the pond slopes in, so there is less to dig out for this level. Posted first picture - above. DAYS - er, um, days dragging on for ever with nothing getting done. Christmas, New Year, came and went. Zilch. The family came and the pond was not done. Oh, shame! But then a wedding party hove into view and then action resumed! The hole was dug and I barrowed the surplus soil out to a skip in the road. Heroic picture! The liner was laid in the pond hole. The it was a couple of weeks ferrying bricks home from Home Depot, mixing cement and trying to lay bricks in the early morning before the heat of the day made the bricks too hot to lay. And here are the completed pictures. See above. |
The last series of pictures |
