The BIG Decision May 24, 1998: I have been working on expanding my flower garden. Hubby rototillered it and as I was adding the border, I mentioned how I'd like to install a small pond to add interest. Now, I'm thinking "mayber 3'x5', something small, not too expensive, or too much trouble". I should mention that we are also in the process of adding on a room addition this summer. Hubby & I decided to go to the lumber yard to price materials for the room, and on a whim, purchased an 8'x13' pond kit. Hmmm, looks like my garden is going to have to get a bit larger to accomodate this "much bigger pond". We got home and popped in the "simple, easy to install in five easy steps" video that came in the kit. If you believe you can "easily, install a pond in five simple steps" then have I got a deal for you! Those people who created the video must have had the complete idiot in mind! What we did learn by watching this video was that we needed to do alot of research before tearing up the yard. Questions arose such as "How do you keep the water clear?", "Where are we going to get all of those rocks?", "Will a pond actually work where we were planning on placing it?", "How much do we need to level our yard before installing the pond?", and mostly "HOW did they dig that hole in the video, manage to fill it with water, and have NO visible trace of dirt anywhere nearby!". May 25, 1998: My daughter and I went out and collected some of the most amazing rocks (one even had two fossilized bones inside, which I discovered when I dropped a rock and it broke in two). Natural limestone can be found in abundance around here, right on the side of the country roads, free for the taking. Anyways, we managed to load and unload rocks that would make the Egyptians proud! I was exhausted after all of that hard work (and itching from a mild case of poison oak because stupid me forgot to wear jeans!) and I decided to do some more surfing on the net to research ponds. I have seen some of the most amazing ponds, and have many exciting ideas to adapt for my pond. During my surfing, I discovered that limestone can kill fish, and it also wears away easily. DARN! I can still use the rocks around the waterfall, but it looks like I'm going to have to come up with another source for the edging, and where the water actually comes in contact with the waterfall. This pond project is getting more expensive by the minute! May 29, 1998: My parents live in the house directly behind ours. There is a well worn path connecting our backdoors. My folks came over to look at the layout of our pond (still just a garden hose lying in the grass). Mom mentioned how we were going to have to redirect our path around the pond to visit. Beings I'm the lazy type, I decided to move the pond over and install a rock walkway to provide easier access between our homes. YEAH! A use for all those rocks! When we moved the pond over, it looked out of proportion with the size of our yard, so we decided to make it bigger. Hubby is getting ready to begin the room addition, so it looks like I'm on my own digging that hole. UGH! Back to Main Pond Index          On to "Change of Plans"