Picking Rocks

We decided to remove all the landscaping rocks around the pool so we could lay out new weed-deterent cloth, plant some new things and get rid of all the sneaky grass that has grown up through the rocks. It wasn't a very big area, so it didn't seem like a huge task. Good grief....I hope I never encounter an actual huge task. Duh. My Pollyana Brain always thinks jobs are going to be easier than they actually turn out to be.

One complication of my ill-timed ambition was the temperature. When I decided to start this after school on Thursday it was 105 degrees. Yup--105. But it was really evening and the sun was low enough in the sky as to not be actually shining on me. The pool wall created a shadow. But, nevertheless, the air temp was 105. Even in A Dry Heat this is not work weather. It was a small space, so mostly I was on my knees with a trowel scooping. Cool Guy was busy in the garage with some engine work so I worked alone until it was too dark to see.

Then Friday, Cool Guy came out and helped me for an hour and we cleared off another large area. But Friday it was 108. So after that hour, we looked at one another, put up the shovels and got in the pool. A FABULOUS IDEA!

At last using some common sense...we got up early on Saturday morning and finished the job while it was still shady on that side of the house and the air temperature was below 100. So, now we have naked ground ready for the new landscape cloth, more plants to soften the wall areas and a new load of rocks. Which I really, really hope will be easier to spread than to clear off. We'll see.

Ultimately though, this rock picking beats the rock picking I did as a farm girl: when I finish up here I can dive in the pool. Back then, finishing up for the day was followed by two hours of cow milking.