More digging, more raking...

My wife takes pictures of her shoes...
I figure I should take a picture of mine :)

Last year, I dug a quantity of earth out of the pond by hand, and piled it a meter or more high beside the pond, around a patch of Alders. I didn't level it off, pack it down, or otherwise "do" anything with it - I was just getting it out of the pond. By spring, between the freeze, snow, thaw and rain the mountain had become a mole hill; it compressed, the air came out of it, and it settled to alomost nothing at all. You couldn't tell there had been a pile of dirt there the fall before.

Now we have a slightly different scenario. From walking over the mountains left by the Kubota (and sinking into them) I know they're still wet, have a high clay content in places, and have a lot of air - they are going to sink down nicely! But that will only be by spring, and some heavy rake work is needed now so they look more palatable.

I put 2hrs into using a heavy rake on the piles of dirt this morning, but it'll need it to dry up a little more before I can make significant progress. Right now I just get my boots stuck in the wet stuff as I struggle with the clay stuck to the rake... it is as frustrating as it is unproductive.

I think he likes what we've done to the place.

While raking I met a frog, who was clearly the recently displaced resident of the now-moonscape which was once a mudhole. After his capture, he struggled a bit while I walked him down to the puddle's edge, cupped in my hands, to what will be the newly improved pond.  I tried to release him by opening my hand, but he simply re-adjusted his position to have a better vantage point of the puddle, at the bottom of the would-be-pond. He was cool to the touch after a chilly fall evening, and was soaking up some heat from my hand as he admired the view. I discussed with him his winter nap in the deep end, and in spring suggested he have lots of tadpoles and try and re-populate the area a bit. He wasn't very chatty, but he also wouldn't let go of my hand - an odd fellow. I eventually convinced him to try the new swimming hole, and I think he liked it. He surfaced, winked, and swam off in the puddle. I think he'll appreciate Pond 2.0 even more after tomorrow's water truck partially fills the pond with 8000 gallons of water.  Yes, I expect that 8000 gallons will only partially fill the pond.