The Rockin' Life Style Part I

This is what Bob and I do for fun: we dig.
Specifically, we decided to redo the white quartz border alongside the house- permanently. Once or twice a year, I'd spend a day to two weeding the stones. Bob would point out the futility of this enterprise, as the weeds inevitably grow back and the whole thing looks like hell again. His solution made sense (remove all the stones, weed and level the dirt, layer on mulch fabric and replace the stones. Permanent fix!

But did it happen? Who had the time and energy and dedication?
Well... we do! We started yesterday (just another fun activity on Bob's birthday) and got about half way done before we had to leave for the Matthew Barney film "Redoubt" screening at Yale (it was great but very draining!) Today it's raining so we're sort of on intermission but at least it's underway...

We waited to start this process because there were dandelions blooming in the stones and we left them for the pollinators. Now that there are many other flower choices (crab apples, daffodils, tulips, magnolias etc) removing the dandelions and assorted other weeds seems not so onerous.

There are a lot of rocks! If you remember, when we moved to this house, we moved several tons of stones and rocks (Other people may move furniture...) Some were larger, but much of it was buckets and buckets of white quartz rocks that Bob uses in his sculpture. I also continue to pick up pocketfuls of small stones on my morning walks so the border by the house is pretty full, even when Bob harvests rocks for extracurricular projects. Clearing the dirt was a major undertaking.
But that stage is complete and if it ever stops raining, we'll lay the mulch fabric and reinstall all the white quartz. Maybe next week?