Gio Vincenti

Oh, and its being built on a concrete slab

I'm planning to make a cob bench under a protected porch.  I have some clay soil, but just acquired a whole mess of used bricks.  Does anyone know if it would it be possible to make the bench with mostly brick and then do a top coat with cob to found it out and at some artistic elements?  If so, should I use an earthen mortar between each brick or do you think I could dry stack a layer and then put a layer of cob mortar across the whole layer and keep repeating?  Since its protected and doesn't get much moisture would it still be good to put a layer of pea gravel in the bottom for drainage?  Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated.

I have a 1/4 acre urban plot and started digging a small garden pond last year.  Its probably only a foot and a half to two feet deep.  I just figured out that our water service line may be running where I began to dig.  We had a mild winter here, so nothing froze but I'm concerned about having lowered the frost line.  Just wondering if when I fill the pond with water if the water will act as an insulator like the soil had or if I should just move the whole thing somewhere else.