Article By Elmer G. Meiler

(Clinck on images to enlarge)

I bet you have been asking yourself; how come I have not update the website with some new material. I have a simple explanation. Back in April, my only daughter and child said that she was going to be married and wanted the wedding in the backyard. Panic set in. The wedding was to be in August and very few persons attending. The backyard was a disaster. The web site would have to be put on hold for a while. Family first, I hope you all understand. We talk about what would be nice for the wedding. I came up with the idea of having a pond with a waterfall. Me personally, I always wanted to do something put a small pond in.

I started work in May clearing the section of the backyard where the pond was going to be. I also cleared an area behind the pond by transplanting some bushes and add a new tree. Three years ago, I had to remove a tree because it was starting to split and rot. After cleaning up the backyard, It was time to start the work on the pond which was May 21st. I got an old hose and laid on the ground to see what shape I wanted the pond to be. The was going to be about 11 feet wide and about 16 feet long, with a depth of 3 feet with a 1 footby 1 foot ledge. After being satisfied with the shape, it was time to start digging. It was just me and the shovel. Wouldn't you know it, May turned out to be almost a record for rainfall for the Lincoln. We received over 8 inches of rain. It rained 16 out of the 31days and the first four days in June. This was a curse and a blessing. The curse was that the ground at times was muddy but it did moisten the soil down to at lease three feet. The soil in this part of the state after about six inches is clay. Yes, clay. The type of clay that after in is wet and then set out to dry is as hard as a brick. The blessing is that the rain had soften up the clay so that it was easier to dig. Below are some more pictures of the pond construction. The wedding went off beautifully and everyone was please with what I did with the backyard. I now sit in the evenings under my pergola, listening to the waterfall and just relaxing for a change and also recouping from the wedding. I needed to recharge my batteries so to say and prepare for what I was going to tie at the FFF Southern Conclave. Hopefully in October I will have a couple of book reviews for you. I also hope have new article in November.