Laying the sandstone stepping stones and putting in slate chippings along the pathway in the new area was something we thought we won't do until right at the very end of the pond build. So when we started burying the cables to give power supply to the filter house (which involved digging a narrow trench along the pathway) we realised that the best way to keep the cable secure in its position is to cement on the stepping stones that will go on top of it.
And that was a spontaneous decision we had to make that early afternoon. It didn't even cross my mind that morning that we would do anything else apart from sorting out the cables, let alone cementing on the paving stones. But it worked out that it was the right thing to do even if it was not the order of things to be done that I expected.
Fortunately the materials are already at hand, and because the weather was cool already and there were bouts of rain during the day, we had to use quick drying cement to do the job which sets in half an hour and can even set under water (i.e should be fine to set even if it rained hard afterwards).
Trench to be dug outlined, cable with protective pipe in place...
Gaz made a sketch of the way the stepping stones will be laid and that was whipped out from the file, quick measurements for the spacing, cement mixed and by the end of the day most of the stepping stones were laid.
Landscape fabric on, spaces measured, sandstone slabs put into their proposed places...
Then cemented on and left to set.
The next day, with the first batch laid already set, the remaining ones were finally laid and the slate chipping were poured in to finish the pathway off.
Once set, slate chipping were poured in to finish the pathway off
The slate chippings are dusty and will take awhile for all the dust to be washed away and go at the bottom. And it will have all winter to settle and 'polish off' and by spring we would know where else we would need to top up with slate. The black cable you can see in these photos is only temporary until we have the power connected into the filter house.
Quite a nice visual accomplishment for us and it didn't even take that long to finish. The progress of the rest of the pond build has been on the slow side though as we give priority to get the rest of the garden ready for winter. And once all the winter preparations are done we can go back full force again to finishing the pond project (as long as it won't be too cold to do anything).
A few more steps closer!
Mark
