Last week I took my grandson home bring an end to his summer visit with Granny. He lives close to my oldest daughter and her family. We usually stop over there for a night before continuing to his mother’s home. After I drop him home, I spend a day or two with my oldest daughter and her family.
We moved away from the Colorado, yet the majority of our family lives there. Anytime we have the opportunity to stay a day or two longer we take advantage. The grandchildren grow up so fast, and I get to see them twice a year.
This year while taking some time with my daughter and her three children, her husband started work on a pond in the garden area of the yard. They had a pond that was a hole in the ground with a liner. The liner does not last long due to one of the family dogs is very large and loves to lay in the pond to cool off in the summer. The past few months he has built a fence around the garden area. Next on his list was to line the pond with cement instead of a plastic liner.
He has not done cement. He has worked construction, framing houses, but only viewed cement work being done. After watching some youtube videos, he decided to try and build a cement lined pond. He is an awesome husband and father, he is a very good man. He is not prideful. If he does not know how to do something, and knows someone who does, he is happy to turn the work over to a more knowledgeable person.
He started the cement project, I offered help if he needed it. It was not long, before he mentioned he was not sure what to do, the cement was not working the way he thought it should. I stepped in.
I have not done a lot of cement work, but I have watched and learned from some really good cement workers. I have made lawn ornaments and laid blocks to form walls, so I do know some information on how to work with this fickle medium.
It was not long before my daughter joined me in working the cement mix up along the sides of the pond. After three hours of patiently working the cement mix, she had a rough looking cement pond that was not complete. We had ran out of cement and the store was closed.
The next day was busy with us taking my grandson home, and visiting a new baby girl in the family.
Sometimes to do a project correctly, takes longer than planned. We worked Monday to finish forming a cement pond. Some of the cement was smooth, but there was some areas that were really rough. I said I could cover the entire pond with mortar, a mixture of cement and sand, and it would look smooth. We bought supplies that afternoon.
The next day, my daughter had to work. I watched the kids and put mortar on the cement pond. My oldest granddaughter assisted with the pond work, the younger granddaughter watched their little brother and brought us cold water to drink.
With patience and consistent work, we finished the pond. My oldest granddaughter asked why I was doing this work.
“Granny your back and hands hurt alot, why not stop? “she asked.
My hands hurt as the gloves I had did not provide proper protection while molding mortar to the sides of the cement mix pond. I had some scrapes and the lime irritated the skin. My back hurt from the constant bending over working. Yet, this pond was a labor of love for my daughter.
We had a good time working together the one day building the cement mix walls of the pond. The last time we worked together on a project she was twelve, before I divorced her dad. We had such a good time, me teaching, her learning and working side by side. I wanted so much to finish this project she desired in her yard.
Finally the pond was complete, with initials and date. Which I wrote upside down.
Now she will seal the pond and add water, rocks to form her fountain and last koi fish.
It is not often I get the opportunity to make or do something of love for my oldest daughter. The distant we live apart does not allow for a lot of visit times. I stayed a day longer than planned to finish this project of love.
Now, when she looks at her pond, she sees a physical sign that her mother loves her and remembers the fun weekend we had sharing and learning from each other.
amtolle
Me, Myself and I 