For Those About To ROCK

The looong weekend ended up being looonger than I wanted. No, it wasn't because I got an extra day off. It was because I had to do yard work almost all weekend. What's worse than spending your three day weekend landscaping? Not a whole lot.

Becky and I decided that we were going to re-do the fence line at our house, so we consulted the landscape expert...my mom. Her and I agreed that to put white rock down would be the best look for our dingy fence line, and we guessed about ten bags of rocks would cover it.

So, Becky and I made our way to Menards to load up some rock. We grabbed our ten bags of Marble Chip rock, a couple bags of small lava rocks for around our Weeping Cherry tree, three new walking path stones, a box of plastic trim to hold the rocks in, some plastic to help keep the weeds out (I say help because there just ain't no stoppin' those weedy bastards!!), and a few other essentials like a 13 foot wide, 3 foot deep swimming pool. (Maybe that wasn't an essential, but it sure was nice to jump in after all that yard work!!)

We loaded it all up, drug it home and started landscaping. Becky began with the Weeping Cherry tree, which turned out quite nicely...and it happened very quickly. I started the fence line.

1. Tear out old plastic.
2. Remove leftover mulch.
3. Smooth.
4. Lay new plastic.
5. Insert plastic edgers.
6. Spread rock.

I worked in small sections, so that I wouldn't have to be on my knees for too long, nor would I have to pour bag after bag of rock. That would just be silly.

I got the first section ready, and poured the rock. Wow, that bag didn't go far. Let's try another bag. Eek!! We're gonna need more rock! I continued on, just to see how far 10 bags would stretch, while Becky was working on the ladder for the new pool, which was filling with water.

Well, needless to say, 10 bags didn't stretch very far. After 8, I decided I had enough. I snuck inside, washed some dirt off, and ran through the yard, commencing with a "cannonball" into the new pool. Surprisingly enough, I made it over the 3 foot side, AND I didn't knock the whole thing over or empty it of all it's water.

Of course, the water was FREEZING as it was new water straight from the hose, and it was also later in the day.

The next day, we made trip number 2 to Menards. We guessed about 15 more bags would do it, so we bought 20, just to be safe. Well, Becky and I returned to work, and soon found 20 wasn't safe enough. We were STILL short. A quick swim, lunch, and back to Menards.

Trip number 3. 10 more bags (and a tree trimmer, to allow more sun to hit the new pool, as it was still colder than a witch's titty...how cold is that exactly? We'll save that for another post.)

Well, kids, 40 bags later...that's 1200 pounds of rocks for those of you keeping score at home...and we were STILL short. I think we need about 4 or 5 more...better get ten.

We have almost the whole thing done, and it looks fabulous!! It was well worth the trips, the sore back (I forgot to do the stretched like the Safe Lifting poster tells me to do!) and the money (thank goodness for the Menards Card!!) All in all, a job well done...stop by and see it if you're in the neighborhood!