A Simple Little Project

I've decided there is no such thing as a simple little project. At least when it comes to home improvement.

My front lawn has a section that has been filled with little white rocks. I don't like these rocks, and I have thousands of them.

I decided I needed to get rid of them. I've been planning my strategy for a while. Today was the day I decided I would start. I stopped for a cup of coffee on my way to town to help rev my engine. Friends were there so I chatted for a while, then went on to my mother's to borrow her wheel barrel. No quick trip there. The cleaning ladies were there, and since they used to clean my house, I had to chat for a while. Nice people. I had to chat with my mom for a while too, so by the time I got home with the wheel barrel, I was already well beyond my 90-minute window. Good thing I'm self-employed.

I started my project. I filled up the wheelbarrel with rocks, which I discovered requires picking them up by hand. Searching for my gloves caused a ten minute delay. Once you pick the rocks up by hand, you put them on a shovel, get a good load, and then dump them all in the wheelbarrel. Yes...I've tried to use the shovel to dig them up directly, but it doesn't work because of the protective liner under the rocks. The hand method seems to be the only way. Anyway, today I learned that a section of about 1 foot by 3 feet of current rocks equals one wheelbarrel about half full. Half full is a lot, but I'm about 1/48th of the way done.

But as soon as I got the wheelbarrel full I realized the tire on the wheelbarrel was flat. Fortunately we have an air compressor, so I went in the garage and found it, backed my car out of the drive next to the wheelbarrel, plugged the compressor into the phone charger slot and filled up the tire. I was proud.

When I got to the back yard where this first load of rocks was going, I realized I now had to weed the new area. An hour later when I had the area weeded, I realized I needed to wash the rocks. (Yes, I am obsessive. I know it.)

After washing the rocks, I realized that all rocks are not created equal. I spent the next hour sifting through the rocks picking the best white ones, washing and rinsing again, and picking the best again. Then I started sorting the non white ones into a pile. I had rocks with yellow, rocks with rust, rocks with a rosy color, silver rocks, and even some black rocks. I picked out all the best white rocks and made a border around my new rock garden in the back. I got done with that and lined the boarder with non-white rocks, yellow first every foot or so, then red filling in, then the gray ones, and finally the black. The rest of the "okay" rocks got poured into the body of the bed and spread with the shovel. It looks good.

My 90-minute project turned into five hours. But it's a good start. At this rate, I should be done in August. Glad I got it started though.