<font color="blue"> ...we have to wait for the clay-soil to dry up a bit before we can proceed. It's amazing how things snowball once you get that ball rolling </font>
You've heard of Murphy's Law; what you've just described is Horner's Conundrum: "Everything you want to do, you have to do something else, first."
I like what you've done with the pond. Your original pond is about the same size as the one I had dug a couple of years ago. I've been vaguely dissatisfied ever since, because it isn't as dramatic as I had visualized it. Besides, now that I've had the property a couple of years, I've discovered some low spots, and I could use some more dirt (sand, in my case). I don't want to spend the $$$, but I'm slowly talking myself into getting the excavator out here again. Now, all I have to do is talk the CFO into it. Yours looks a lot better, now. Maybe it will give me some ammunition.