Alaska Kurt, Jambo, Mike, Cosmo
The guys are holding the liner, keeping it from falling off the tines as I move it closer to the pond.

July 26, 2019 - Friday evening

71 degrees/clouds/windy

Pentoga Road

It's a mighty happy boy who's writing this evening. The liner and basics of the filtration system are in place. We should have a full fledged, working, pond within the next couple of weeks.

We gathered on the far side of the garden at 10 this morning. Cos took charge throughout the day and even though his official title was Supervisor, he also did most the work.

Cosmo's fixing any small openings in the underlayment.

It took all five of us to pull the eight hundred pound rubber liner over the pond. First, we had to unroll and get it ready.

Then we divided up, grabbed a side, and in tandem, pulled as hard as we could.

After weeks of worrying how we could possibly stretch such a heavy piece of rubber over so large an area, it was anti climatic. Working together, it was done in less than five minutes.

Cos took over, fixing, folding, smoothing, gathering the wrinkles and placing them where they would be out of the way in the future or simply go unnoticed.

As he said, wrinkles can't be helped. It was a square liner that we were fitting into a fairly round hole.

Several hundred gallons of water were added, more to settle the liner than anything else. Cos later pulled against the middle rearranging the slack and wrinkles.

An hour later, the job was pronounced finished. 

I later asked about hose placement for the filter. With a clip board and tablet in hand, Cos began sketching a diagram.

He and Mike spent no small amount of time deciding where the best places might be to place the flex hose that will draw water in through the gravel filters.

Cos sketched and scratched, talked and pointed, before suddenly saying, "Heck with it, let's just make it now."

It took some for him to wrestle a hundred feet of four inch hose. Mike and I kept busy feeding it to Cos as he laid it on the select terraces.

Cos finally pronounced the hose placement finished. I'll place sandbags on the outer edges of the terraces where the filter will be and fill the space with pea gravel. Powered by a large pump, the hose will suck the water through the gravel with the two feet of rock overhead acting as a natural filter.

Jambo and Alaska Kurt had departed earlier. Cos and Mike after. I surely couldn't have done everything by myself, either physically or mentally. My appreciation goes out to all the guys, especially Cos for taking charge.

I made a quick trip to Crystal Falls to see my friend, Becky, and pick up a load of pea gravel.

I'll begin building the first filter Saturday morning. Since it will be the lowest, after its completion, I'll add water to the pond so it will be completely submerged before going onto the next terrace.

I took the time this afternoon to pick a few vegetables from the garden. Though the garden looks good, it would be much more productive is we could just get an inch or two of easy rain spread out over a two day period.

I've been asked multiple times WHY would I go to all the work to make a pond in the garden. It isn't a project, it's an ongoing process and will be that way well into next summer.

All one has to do is look at Cosmo and Mike's pond, the one I fashioned mine after, to know why I HAD to have the same. I had the equipment, I had the time, and thankfully, I had the friends in Cos and Mike to guide me along the way.

This is their pond.

I rest my case.

Sargie is pulling in the drive so it's time to close. She works again on Saturday and closes the Vision Center. I'm going to begin building the deepest filter and hope to complete that by day's end.

Meanwhile, I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight. The hard work is over. Now I can begin to get creative, something I've looked forward to for a long long time.

After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Walking barefoot, Cos felt a rock under the liner so Mike crawled under while I held it up.