Wow, we had a really good day yesterday, but it ALMOST killed me...so I thought! We started out by cleaning up a little inside the gift shop, putting all the waste wood on the porch, along with all the other things we are now finished with. We then went to the pond to repair the breeched “Dam” once created by the beavers. Now....not being of the beaver persuasion..... (But maybe a little bucked toothed) I set forth repairing the breeched section of the dam where the winter thaw ice rammed its way through the stick structure. I originally placed 36 bags of sackcrete in the opening.....creating a block wall of sorts...figuring that the concrete would soak up the water, get hard and turn block-like. Nada...nope...not-a-gonna-happen...for it simple eroded the bag and the current shot the soft concrete toward New York Harbor! It breeched a spot in the bags about four feet wide, consuming about ten or twelve bags of the concrete. Disheartened, but never deterred, we bought another twelve bags of concrete and placed them on the ground near the dam, soaking them and covered them with plastic. The next day the sun drew moisture from the ground, creating an internal wetness and condensation on the underside of the plastic, keeping the bags soaked. I figured that within two or three days, the bags would be rock hard. NADA....think again....Not Happenin’...... Vick, in her usual impatience, wanted to go to GNH Lumber and purchase twelve 8” cap blocks to use in place of the soft but wet bags of concrete, so off we went and bought the cap blocks. We placed them in the breeched section like a block wall and then took the remainder and laid them in front of the original bags and new blocks we just placed. After that, we put the still wet bags of concrete on top and behind the dam we built. Next, we placed about eight huge bucket loads of chipper stone in front of the dam at an angle from the bottom of the pond to the top of the dam in put in.......AND another number of buckets of the same stone on the down stream side of the dam....lying flat stone down the angle for the overflow water to spill without eroding the breast of the dam where it flowed. Shoveling twenty some loads of stone, carrying cement cap blocks, bags of cement and throwing shovels of stone across the breast of the dam and ice skating in mucky mud, took it’s toll on my legs and knees. Today I hurt!!! After we finished the dam, we brought the level of our pond back up tom the original level which is about two feet higher than it was since the dam was knocked out during that spring thaw. The pain was worth it! Next we went to the raised beds for the garden and cut the rest of the 2” by 11” planks to eight feet and four feet. Now all we need to do is put the remaining three beds together and place them all, marking where the fence posts go. We’ll do the fence after the dirt is bought and delivered. That way, the truck can come in and dump it the easiest way possible.
Our raised beds for the garden....
038874 Cluckin' "A" Critter Farm, LLC
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