Rain Delay

Throughout the day Monday, they feverishly worked on the water feature. It was the third and final day for Todd and his crew. I had my doubts, but they finished the day with a finished product...or at least one that John can now finish.

Basic Construction

Upper Pond

Masked the stone "wall"

Starting to fill pond

Full and circulating

Our initial impression was that there was too much water flowing across the fall and too much noise. We considered the alternatives and decided to install a valve in the line from the pump to the upper pond. They used the same type of valve (knife) as they used in the purge line. It was not an easy installation and they worked hard at it. When finished, they covered the area around the pond due to the pending rain and departed.

Later, I started closing the valve they installed to reduce the flow. Unfortunately, there is something wrong. I completely "closed" the valve but there is still a lot of water flowing. We let the water circulate, but I informed John that we needed to procure and install a variable speed controller on the pump. Turns out these are not very expensive and readily available.

On Tuesday, for the first time in over a month, it rained all day. It was not a down pour, but alternated between a drizzle and light rain throughout the day. Hence no work either Tuesday or Wednesday. It was a wonderful opportunity to enjoy our sunroom and the cool wet autumn weather.

On Thursday (today) John's crew returned. They worked on the stone wall behind the pond and brought in some foliage. T and I met John at a 100-year-old nursery distributor in downtown St. Louis to look at some trees and shrubs. It was very interesting and T has decided to alter the original landscaping plan.

The pond water has clarified nicely

Stone wall on back side of pond

Wally stopped by and we finalized the first phase of our exterior lighting plan. It will include ten path lights, a submerged pond light and a light on the water stream between the upper and lower ponds.