The Pond That PJ Built

Pond progress!

PJ has been working on a small pond on our property for the last few days, spending many, many hours on it and getting it just right. How cool is that? Remember how I said there’s truly nothing he can’t do when he set his mind to it? This is a prime example. He built a literal pond, y’all, using a shovel and the tractor.

We hired excavators to dig a few ponds on our land and hope to have them filled (or at least the smaller one) by summer, but the weather hasn’t been cooperating with us the last few weeks, so their timeline is a bit delayed. After it rains, and it’s rained a lot lately, they have to wait at least three days before they can start digging again. As you can imagine, it gets frustrating quick when something that should have taken a week ends up taking over a month. Such is life, though!

Not taking that for an answer, PJ has taken it upon himself to create a little water haven for us using the mountain run-off water that builds up whenever it rains a lot. Every fall and winter, a little stream is formed on our property and runs for a few months while it’s still wet outside. Come spring and summer, though, it’s all dried up. We’re hoping that, because of the system PJ created for this little pond, it’ll stay filled from now on and get bigger as it rains throughout the year. We shall see!

For now, though, it’s been perfect for the dogs to swim in and the kiddos to play in. The weather has been so nice the last few days (low 70’s and sunny!) and we’re trying to be outside and in nature as much as possible. It may not look like much from these photos, but to us, it’s paradise right now.

The pond has also created a sort of relaxing retreat for us. The sound of the water running is so dreamy and the color of the rocks under the water is beautiful. Through the draining system PJ created, the pond stays pretty clear when no one is in it stirring up the mud, so you can see right to the bottom.

The kiddos and I have been helping PJ collect and stack rocks to create something for the water to break on and they are LOVING it! We’ve found they really like helping us out there when we’re doing various projects (older brother is sometimes reluctant, but for the most part he’s game, too). They love getting their hands dirty and seeing how many rocks they can get at one time. It’s so cute. Seeing their little hands pick up these ginormous rocks is my favorite thing ever, but seeing their excitement and pride in how hard they’re working is even better.