After an amazingly long summer it feels that autumn is finally here. I wore my winter wetsuit surfing yesterday for the first time since October. I’ve put new fire bricks in the wood burner and it looks like this will be the week to light it.
After a significant dry spell, we have had 100+ mm of rain in the last 4 days. As a result of that we have an unexpected pond on our property.
Truth be told, it is not unexpected, just not in the space planned for it.
We have been building a swale in combination with a rubble road and a raised area to plant avocado trees.
But at the moment the pond is in the excavated area for the rubble road and not behind the swale.
Just for fun I started digging the pond today. Under about 250 mm of topsoil is a clay pan.
Ultimately we can line the walls of the pond with the clay so it holds water longer.
But it’s all good. The ducks love the temporary pond, and why spoil their fun.
Peace, Estwing
Eco Thrifty Living 
Very interesting. Liked your previous post on bamboo flooring. As the carpet is wearing out in dining room area have decided to look into a different floor covering, your article very timely thank you. Have cork tiles in the kitchen.
Thanks Judy. everyone who comes by marvels at the bamboo floor. Another permaculture update today!
Hard work digging out 25cm of topsoil. I’ve got a hard clay pan under my topsoil but in parts of the garden I only have to dig down about 10cm to get there. It doesn’t stop drainage though.