Free Rock - The Lord Continually Blesses Me

Last year I put bark in the back yard and landscaped around the trampoline area in hopes to keep cats from using the area as a litter box. For the most part, that has worked and here is a link to the post about that. 

I also put some brick in to make the back area where I have the swamp cooler a bit easier to manage and not have mud going on recently. Here is the post about that.

 
When we purchased the house, the people that sold it said they were thinking about putting rock next to the house around the cement path as they had problems with the sprinklers and pipe bib in the area and couldn't get grass to grow well due to it always being in the shade.

I figured I could make it work and laid sod in the area. I put in the sprinkler and not much time passed before I had issues with the sprinkler being close to the house and also issues with the area being crowded with the swamp cooler and the grill and our deck chairs etc. 

It was really frustrating trying to mow around all those items and the swamp cooler area got really muddy and morning glory has always grown in that area and winds its way around anything back there. I have NEVER liked how it looked back there and really have wanted to do something but didn't want gravel as the kids get it in their shoes and throw it on the grass, it gets on the path and hurts to walk on etc. 

I decided recently after we did the brick area, that I wanted to put rock in and clean up that area of the yard. It has always been the eyesore of the yard. I figured since people weren't seeing it, I could deal with it but since we put the brick in that one area, it looks so nice that I want to make the rest of the yard look finished. 

The girls and I were walking tonight and I saw a huge pile of rock in front of one of our neighbors home. He was hauling loads in his wheelbarrow and I told the girls I wanted to ask him how much a load of rock would be for the back of the house. 

As were finished our walk, we walked to his home and I asked him how much it cost for a load of rock. He told me that he had NO idea how big of a load he was getting and he was almost through with the area where he needed the rock and I could have the rest if I could find a car to pull it and he said he thought he could borrow a trailer for us to load it and take it to my house. I called my sister and she said we could swap cars as my suburban isn't an easy use vehicle and isn't insured currently or registered either. 

The guy said he would text me when he was finished in the morning and he would find a trailer if he could for me to borrow for a day or two while we load up the rocks and haul them to my back yard. 

I then got home just after dark and decided that it will be super hot tomorrow and I don't do well in the heat as I get overheated and can't cool down after about 10 minutes working in the sun. I chose to stay up all night and dig out the horrible dead grass and weed area in the back near my swamp cooler and spigot. I have stuff I need to get rid of but at least now I can have the back looking neat without pulling weeds. 

It is so much easier to spray poison and kill any weeds cropping up that try and spray it around the grass in that section as well. Now I can spot spray any green coming up in the rocks or cracks. 

I was working in the quite of the night and a life flight helicopter flew over my home and stopped at our local hospital for about an hour and then took off again. I said a little prayer for the person needing that flight and was giving gratitude that it wasn't someone I love needing that flight. With Covid spreading like a wild fire, it soon could soon be anyone we know! 

I started at 10:30. By 2:30 I had finished 1/3 of the area. By 4 a.m. I had gotten to the water spigot, and I finished the entire project by 5 a.m. and even though I was hot for most of the work, I wasn't overheated to the point I can't work and my face is purple and I feel like my head will explode. I have had a dip in my yard where I took out a raised garden bed so I used dirt from the area to fill up that slope next to the path and will plant some grass. I have almost twisted my ankle there many times as the grass was lower than the path so I was excited to fix that issue at the same time I was getting the area ready

Tomorrow will be hot and I bet we will be VERY sort hauling lots of rock. I am grateful I was able to purchase a large roll of weed barrier at a second hand store so I hope I have enough to use under the rock or I will have to go purchase some. 

I am very grateful that my Father in Heaven is aware of my needs and wants and that he sent me past that house just when the man was working and almost finished so he knew he had more than he could use. I don't know the man other than in passing but he said he was just going to post it on the local yard sale page and let anyone who wanted it to come and take it. 

I also want to put some of it down into the window wells as the gravel I put down there keeps raking to one side when I clean them and the rocks are large enough that they will be more stable when I pull out the leaves and twigs in the fall but will also keep little critters from burrowing up into the window well like in this post linked here. 

I am praying we can get it finished in one day and I can have another think checked off my "list" as it is an every growing thing! 

Have a safe and blessed day!