MOVING ROCKS

Lots and lots of little rocks, lots of mud...

Making progress though.

Don't know what the wires were for, they are dead.

KEEPING ON ROCKING

There was a liner under the old 'stream' bed.  It was covered with rocks of all shapes and sizes.  My goal is to get that out of there.

There's still a puddle of water at the bottom, along with all those rocks and lots of fine mud.

I'm tired of dealing with the mud.  I was amazed at how difficult it was to puncture it so the water would drain out.  It all didnt, and I ended up just pulling the liner out, mud, rocks and all.  Yuck.

Should I or shouldn't I save the fern?  It's roots go all over and even down into the water at the bottom of the pond.  I'm afraid if I move it to the front yard with the rest of the ferns under our Cedrus tree it won't survive, its too dry there.

MOVING PLANTS

Done with my work week, it's back at it.

There are some plants living between the sidewalk and the patio that have to be transplanted.

I'm moving the daylillies and Lavender to the front of the house, and I'm putting the Firecracker plant on the other side of the patio.  The  Red Poppies will go into a pot.

Good luck plants, I hope you survive.

I moved a few more rocks, here's what the pile is looking like.

There are a lot of smaller rocks that lined the 'stream' bed.

I keep finding heart-shaped rocks.

MOVING ROCKS STILL

I've gotten most of the big rocks out of the way for the widening of the sidewalk.

I'm taking it slow and easy, trying not to hurt myself too much.

Most of the rocks gone from that side.

The bigger picture.

Now I have to wait a week, while I go back to work.

MOVING THE ROCKS

First step is moving the big rocks out of the way. 

I got a shovel, a dolly and a great pry bar.

I've started moving the big rocks.  Hi Bentley.

Got a few done.

I'm stacking them on the patio, out of the way.

So far, I've only had to ask Darrell for help with one of them - a biggy.

I'm putting the fist-sized and larger rocks into those green bins.  There is a huge amount of them, too.

NEW PROJECT - OUR BACK YARD

Our backyard has been in need of help for a while now.

I needed a project to keep me busy, so I'm going to tackle it.

I keep thinking I'm too old to do this, but I'm not getting any younger, so I better stop putting it off.

The impetus for this is my want of a bird sanctuary, particularly a bird bath.

There was a 'stream' with a little pond here when we moved in, but it never worked because it leaked and wouldn't hold water.  So we've never turned it on.

My plan is to make a bigger pond with a place where birds can come and bathe or drink.

And while I'm doing that we really should re-do the walkways.

So, here are the before pictures...

Looking from back deck towards the patio

The walkway along the shop

The walkway along the shop and the Japanese Maple

Standing at the corner of the house looking at the back deck.

Standing on patio looking towards back of house.

See all those rocks under the tree?  That was the original pond.  See all those  little rocks in the open area?  That's where the new pond will be.  All those little rocks have got to go.  We've always hated those little rocks - and they are everywhere.

After alot of talking with the husband about what we wanted and what we were willing to do, I've come up with a plan.  I even took measurements and put it on paper.

Here we go...