... gently down the stream -- merrily, merrily, merrily ...

So we had a veritable marshland in the front meadow. One evening, after discussion over...

...it was agreed that we divert the water to an outlying municipal ditch. The excavation, placement, and arrangement of this ruisseau (streambead) has been an intense focus of our efforts this last week.

After identifying the grade of the land, the digging in the muck began...

We placed some rocks and planted assorted grasses strategically along the stream's edge. We plan to add some water-loving flowers alongside within the coming months, once things progress. We also lined the entire ruisseau with stones found on the property...

It rained on and off during the project, which proved serendipitous. We are quite pleased with the burble and chatter of the stream.