For fun, here are some pics of the new fish pond. A previous owner had started constructing a pond in this spot, they had put down cheap plastic that was brittle and falling into the hole. The area was very overgrown and even had some saplings growing. DH isn't that into landscaping . . . but he always liked the idea of a pond there.
Last fall we were down there for a few weeks and while DH and DS worked on getting the second and third rooms ready (one needed touchup, paint and new spray on ceiling and the other needed all new sheetrock on walls). I cleaned up the pond area and got most of the vegetable matter removed, and got the larger rocks out of the way. When we got down there early April I finished cleaning it up and ready to rebuild. The first pic is the original pond all cleaned up.
I had not realized how out of level it was, and as I started to build up the outer walls, discovered I needed to come up about 2', even with cutting down the high side about 8". That is when I decided the only way to make it work was to build a retaining wall. There will be a waterfall, and there is a shallow area that will be turned into a place for tadpoles and baby fish to hide. Eventually we'll build a deck with a lower level that overlooks the pond. I've had several smaller ponds, and always wanted a big one. I'll be looking for water hyacinth and water lettuce when we are back down there in another week.
The last picture is the view DS has from one of his security cameras. He put up a new camera so he could get this view.