TDCB Part 3

As you will recall, Sunday we dug and dug and dug and dug until we had a 92.5-foot trench. Wednesday and Thursday saw giant piles of (rocktastic!) rocks delivered unto our driveway.

And so the final stage of TDCB project began: filling up the trench with rocks. Wednesday I lined the trench with landscaping fabric, and then Wednesday and Thursday, Mulch Boy and I moved rocks, starting with the big ones as the foundation of the stream. We have 4.5 tons of rocks. We are going to have Popeye forearms by the end of this.

We also had unexpected help both days: our next door neighbor, who is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet AND younger and stronger than us broken-down middle-agers, saw us out there lugging stones and just walked over and started helping us. I told him he didn't have to, and that if he broke himself, I'd never see another cookie from his wife the Cookiechic.

(Blatant shill: go buy some fabulous baked goods from my neighbor the Cookiechic; I am a complete cookie snob and her stuff is fantastic! She also ships anywhere, so do check out her Etsy site. I especially recommend the double chocolate scones, the coconut lemon cupcakes, and especially the chocolate strawberry cakewiches--oh, the cakewiches!)

Anyhoo, Mr. Neighbor kept helping anyway, and on Thursday his and the Cookiechic's son and daughter, Cookie 1 and Cookie 2, decided they would pitch in, too, and we had a fun time tossing rocks into the back yard and discussing the merits of various Harry Potter characters.

Behold, the progress so far! The backyard has a foundation of big stones along its length, but the front yard? All done but for the trimming of the landscape fabric!

Backyard at the creek's "source."

Along the back porch. PLEASE let this actually keep
the water out of the basement!

Oh my!