Wow!! Came out beautiful & perfect place to show it off at end of your beautiful pond. Love the stone around it. Looks like you have been very busy getting deck & arbor done also. Going to have a lovely place to enjoy the summer! Jan

Thank You! 2.5months of steady weekends!!! It was Amazing to stand there and turn it all on for the first time!!!!

Very beautiful! You did an amazing job!

You did a wonderful job! The pond finished and the castle done! Doesn't look 'new'--looks like it has been there forever (compliment)!

Thanks! I was sooo excited to get it this far!!! Just have to get some more lumber to finish the pergola topper and it needs grouting on the stone work...but that is gonna happen as I go...the big push to get this done has happened!!! Tweeking here and there is gonna take time.

Well, you surely outdid yourself Calamity! Your castle looks spectacular in your water garden and your pond is beautiful! Great job!!

"RAPUNZEL, RAPUNZEL, let your hair down!"
(said that little gold fish swimming by the castle!) (or was it a frog!)

Calamity...I am at a loss for ENOUGH words! My first thought was seeing the shooting water falls in front of the castle & a glimpse of a gold colored fish! WHOOPEE!! Calamity got her pond DONE!

The castle ...is just absolutely BEAUTIFUL & such originality! So lovely, lovely, lovely! A gorgeous work of art! TFS!

And the arbor over the pond...lots of just great, great ideas! And the bog! WOW! You certainly have been working hard & also taking time to share! Now enjoy as you tweak! THANK YOU! Motivating! Jeanne S.

Glory Be!!! That is unreal. It looks like something at Disney World. I've got to show this to DH, then maybe he won't complain about my so-so labor intensive projects. I love the bog garden and all the rocks. Pat,pat,pat, this is me giving you a well deserved pat on the back.
Frou

NOW I WANT ONE TOOOOOO!!!!

It's GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!

You have really outdone yourself. I am LOVING that castle sooo much - the copper roofs are TDF!!

What do you have inside the castle to light it up? I LOVE that it lights up!!

And you have fish! Just a warning, I had a fish in my old pond then some water bird came in my yard and ATE IT!!! I was in the yard when it happened and saw this bird slapping something on the ground and I couldn't figure out what it was until I got closer. My poooor fish! So put some chicken wire or something over the pond so beaks can't get in the water. But I wouldn't have fish anymore because I love my frogs too much and wouldn't want the tadpoles eaten.

I love the stonework around the pond. Beautifully done. And that there's a waterfall.... just lovely!

And I love the garden beds that run down from the pond.

And if you couldn't tell already... I'm in LOVE with everything you've done!!

Fantastic job!!

Oh Calamity, that is just beautiful!

I love the light up stained glass windows and little doors and the cross and stonework on the castle. I love the copper roofs and the curlicues!

That night picture is too cool. Have you thought of little mini torches? Or floating candles in the pond.

I love whole area, the tall fences all around. More copper or other shiny things on the fences would look like they were floating like that shiny round thing on the wire fence (looks kinda like a planet or a hubcap). When they reflect the light makes it look just magical.

What fun! You did good.

How fun!! It looks great!! :)

Very cute and what a beautiful setting! Cheryl

It never stops amazing me at how much you produce!!!! You are a dynamo of energy and creativity. How delightful.

I LOVE your castle and also your pond! Your gardens and patio are way beyond spectacular. It has been incredible to watch your project progress from a wire form to a completed medieval castle in miniature. I am so impressed!

PS Is that you in the last photo? You look deservedly happy, if so!

Wow that is so NICE! Where is the Rapunzel in the window? Okay how about a flag for the castle now----next project.....lol!

Cait...what kind of froggies? I love frogs!

Fabulous! I want one too!!!!!!!

~~Mimi

I just thought maybe for posterity this "finished castle by the pond" thread ought to have a link to the earlier thread when the castle was just a handmade wire form. Otherwise random persons might look at these photos a year from now and not realize that this is not just a commercially produced castle that has been mosaiced, but rather was built from scratch with wire and concrete and slate and other materials with a plan existing only in the head of the artist (Calamity Jane) who conceived the idea and built this creation.

Already the thread with photos of the castle's humble beginnings has migrated 4 pages away from this one, so here it is preserved:

Here is a link that might be useful: earlier castle thread

Dos't thou ever partake in sleep madam ? Me thinks you are full of the spirit of DaVinci .... You must rest now, lest you burn out thy soul ( or break a nail .. whatever ) I couldn't think of anymore "castle talk " LOL
You outdid yourself - again .... (( Hugs )) !!

Oh gosh, I keep looking back at these pics! You've come a long, way, BABY! (that's you, Calamity!) Wow! WOW! WOW! I can't remember what you are going to grow on your arbor over the pond or IF you are even growing something...I do remember seeing your fish swimming in buckets or something last yr! ...and your pond plants look AWESOME (like they've been there forever)...they were in buckets, too, right?

Anyway, I just went out & took a pic of "Mandarin Honeysuckle" which grows over the seat arbor by our pond...that DH made several yrs ago. They're pretty hardy here...and not invasive like the wild Honeysuckle that Smicker posted. Here' the pic:

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And here's looking thru the arbor to the pond today:
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Whatever you do...it will be AWESOME!!! I'm just so tickled for you, calamity! A dream come true! I am lovin' your projects!!! Jeanne S.

Oh my gosh, its stupendous! Calamity castle, sounds like a movie! The pond and arbor are gourgeous and the castle is like a jewel in the middle.
Love it all. I showed dh Clif, he loves it too.
Kathy

Thank You Thank You Everyone! I do so LOVE that it has happened!!! It certainly would not of, if not for my Friend Glen, who did the majority of the building of this pond,(I was designer/forman/go-fer! Its amazing what a bit of wire mesh and concrete can make...and the string of Christmas lights to light it!! Put the fish in today...all 5...they are sooo tiny in there!!!lol! Even tho they did double in size with living in their tubs for the last yr! AND I think one is preggos...a real fatty!lol! I ended up buying a energy efficeint pump and will only have less than $20/month in electric costs. That gal in the pic is a friend of mine who stopped by for the Grand Plug in of the pond!!! I will have to dusteth off my royal tierra and scepter to give court in thy royal grounds....heh heh!