this is the story of sustainable love meets long-term vision. a 24 hour photo essay of my mountain pond which has become a group collaboration over what seems, and is, aeons. the results of the working bee this wknd past are in. neither the first nor last of hopefully many.
originally all of this space was one big barren clay hill with all the top soil shaved off from prior excavation from trigger happy men expressing their testosterone through beer, machines and masturbation. the transformation has been a massive labour of love. and still a work in progress. human lives are so short, the magpies said.
i started digging into the rock in 2005. i was handier with a mattock then than i am now but my efforts barely put a dent in what is primarily rock & compressed clay. it is extremely hard work. which warrants copious beer drinking. still there was a sizeable hole. and there it sat for a long time. waiting.
reiteration: it is hot work. see how dan pants like a little dog?
previously he'd bucketed out by hand over 300 litres of water [aided and abetted by ruby's innovative oxygenation programme] which the rain had inadvertently provided & the natural clay seal partially managed to retain in the pond. the frogs had moved in [YAY] a little prematurely. cue massive tadpole rescue mission. saint dan. we saved some mosquito larvae as well. we're so buddhist.
previously he'd bucketed out by hand over 300 litres of water [aided and abetted by ruby's innovative oxygenation programme] which the rain had inadvertently provided & the natural clay seal partially managed to retain in the pond. the frogs had moved in [YAY] a little prematurely. cue massive tadpole rescue mission. saint dan. we saved some mosquito larvae as well. we're so buddhist.
after digging a trench to bury the pond liner edges flush with the earth, we put recycled carpet underlay sourced from surry hills back streets, on top of the dug out clay to provide protection for the pond liner from the jutting internal rocks and hard edges. pond developers recommend sand but perhaps i'm retarded -- i just couldn't visualise side stickability. how does it adher to the walls? carpet is OK too. but a little stiff. we have both just in case.
did i mention that it's hot? hello pond liner posing as a three headed bondage ghost.
clare models the very latest in pondwear. available from any good pond accessory store.
pond liner is adjusted, decreased & edges buried into the trench. well, as decreased as you can get with a square sheet and a round[ish] hole...
ruby & i survey the scene as the others drink another well-deserved beer under the hot sun which strangely enough was only officially 23 degrees celcius but felt like 38. we're so buggered we can barely stand/speak.
that's right mofos... WATER! ruby does the honours. she is a water goddess after all.
I feel hot just looking at these.
ReplyDeleteRuby was picking out all the people in the pictures, even with their faces covered. She's a genius, I tells ya.