In the insane rush to get this year's chunk of pond garden finished before the snow flies, we've started building a raised patio up above the waterfall. It's not a huge in area only about 8'X7', but that didn't mean it hasn't been a process.

So far, the area's been weeded, excavated, the pipes and cords run through aluminum pipes, the dirt screeded and packed down with a makeshift tamper, the screeder (a 2X6 mounted to a 2X4) raised to allow for 1" of sand. The sand (we needed about 20 bags for the area) was dumped in bag by bag, screeded, packed, and screeded again. Each rainfall (we've gotten three since Saturday; a bad one Saturday night that wreaked hell in Rogers), required an additional packing and screeding.

The cement had to be mixed in two basins; one for red (with ash for texture) and one for gray (with sand for texture), and was then poured into a random stone mold, which I picked up at Menards. The section you see was about a bag and a half. The black feeder pole you see was shoved in while the bricks were semi-hard.

Saw massive flocks of American Goldfinch over the weekend. Both feeders were filled with the smallish yellow birds at some points, with others queuing up on the pole or in the branched of the potted palm. I'd assume this indicates a good deal of them banding together to head South, and that soon enough we'll only be seeing the smallish bands of year-round resident finches making their rounds of the feeders.

Area wildlife spotted the last week:

• Red-shouldered hawk
• American goldfinch
• Monarch butterfly
• Red-bellied woodpecker
• Hairy woodpecker
• Black-capped Chickadee
• Nuthatch
• Gray Squirrel
• Eastern Chipmunk

Flowers Blooming in Pond Garden:

• Showy Goldenrod
• Daisy Fleabane
• Harebell