The Earth has Moved

Literally the earth has been moved from this

to this
and nearly done at this.

Seen from the other end it went from this


and this

to this.
and finally to this.



Basically the shape has gone from a big oval shape with an island at one end to it being filled up to the island, except for a little 'tail'. The whole thing is a smaller shallower oval. The soil put in the middle is supposed to subside a bit with time but also gives a shelf in case anyone or anything (animal) falls in, it would be easier to get out. It will, when full, supposedly still be deep enough to have fish in. I'd like to have some edible fish and I'll look at edible water plants too. Soooo much to learn, so many possibilities. This post is not quite complete as I haven't shown the lovely level road on the side. A farmer will also, hopefully, come and level out the top of the bank. You can't see from the photo's but it is very uneven with big clods of earth. I have also not shown the overflow pipe.

Rich has just told me that the farmer, Paul, said he would put some grass and wildflower seed mix down on all the exposed soil areas, Awesome.

The soil is naturally very clayie so one day we shall try making some pots with it.

I didn't realise how few photo's I had taken before the work began but anyway it was so big one photo woulndn't have contained it all.

I would like to give a big thank you to Simon Charter for giving of his time to come and see the lake and for his very practical suggestions on what to do in and around it. I'd also like to thank Mervyn and his co-worker for all the work they did on the pond. Mervyn kindly gave the time that he said was due in work to the previous owner to us. It would have been many years before we would have been able to afford to pay for this work, so thanks again Mervyn for your work and honesty.

I tried to describe to my sister in an email what it is like having this work done. The land still feels really big and unreal to me. At the same time we have walked around it so often that to actually have it's shape changed feels as though a part of me has changed. It may sound weird but it is a weird feeling too.
I'll try to copy that part of the email, here it is: I must add more to my blogspot on the farm. Someone came to work on the pond. Richard got some ideas from a chap at whose house I usually have study group at. Simon works with water so I asked if he would do us a favour and give us his opinion on the pond. He had very practical suggestions to make which we appreciated very much and the work has been done mainly to what Simon had suggested. It was and still is a strange feeling to have land, that is ones own and is beginning to feel part of oneself, be dug up and moved about. It is a very small scale, nothing like open cast mining, but it is still a strange feeling. We are so used to living within the spaces set for us that, for myself, I don't really think of changing the space itself. This readjusting of the pond is a change of space and as such leads to a change of perspective. We have more land to work with now. Land that is a different shape, flatter and more accessable. we are just waiting now for a farmer to come and roll the one bank so as to smooth over the clods made by te big digger. It will take time for the grass to grow again around the banks of the, now smaller and shallower, pond. Maybe then things will begin to feel normal again. The pond is slowly filling. There are about three inches in the deepest part. The soil there is naturally very clayey so the water should hold this time.