The plan had been to build a natural swimming pool, but we quickly realised that we didn’t have enough space, or the funds to build one, so settled on the idea of a pond that we can sit in.
Luckily, the only available spot for it happened to be the most naturally placed, and easiest to construct on, a mini-cutting running away from the house. This meant that we could get away with building retaining walls for the water, rather than having to dig down into very rocky ground.
I don’t mind admitting it, this project hurt. Generally, my main form of exercise is tapping on a keyboard. Although since moving here we have spent much more time outside doing things, I cannot claim that hard physical graft is one of my preferred activities.
Because the soil is poor in these parts, we decided to build deep boxes to create a rich, fertile growing medium for the vegetables. The beds are sited on a slope, and so it was necessary to terrace the ground in order to keep the boxes level.