Still Plugging Away

My schedule, the heat and humidity, rain, and an occasional lack of motivation have kept me from working on the pond and streambed project.  Today, after waking up too early and going for my usual walk, I began digging a shallow trench for the future stream.

Some sneak peeks:

The uppermost pond is built at the edge of a slope...not the most natural place for a pond.  Throughout my planning, I've struggled with how best to make this look like a naturally occurring pond.  Building up the slope seems pretty unrealistic to me...and, after sitting at the edge of the pond on the slope side, I've realized there is a wonderful benefit to having the slope there.  I can sit right at the water's edge without sitting on ground level.  This also allows for great chances for some good photos.

So, I think I've got a fairly good plan on how to incorporate rocks on the slope which will lend a more natural look while providing a natural "steps" which will allow me access to the water's edge.  After moving my mini-boulder and some other large rocks, I decided to stop and study the area some more.  This is a long-term project, but I'm happy to be making progress.

Hopefully, no more adjustments will be needed on these rocks, however, after studying it, I may very well have to rework them.  Either way, a lot more will have to be added to make this as I envision it: