In my estimation one can never have too many rocks

Just look at that pile of gorgeous bad boys! It's one of the most beautiful sights ever... a pile of huge hunks of naturally eroded and rounded off granite. I have my sister and her husband to thank for these. They were moving from their home and asked if I would like to give these boulders a home. I couldn't say, "Yes!" fast enough.

Then came the hard part... getting them from their house to ours.

The boulders are so large and heavy that multiple trips were involved. Aching muscles and backs were too, Hubby tells me. I obeyed his strict orders to stay away from the loading and unloading zones. Our trusty little Toyota pickup was riding low with these behemoths loaded in the back. But the Tacoma never whimpered. Now the wheelbarrow... that was a different story altogether. Let's just say we have to procure a new one and leave it at that, shall we?

Once the rocks were unloaded into a pile in the middle of the unfinished half of the back garden, Hubby gave me permission to roll them around to my heart's content as long as I didn't try to lift them and strain myself irreparably. As my personal "Jiminy Cricket", he knows me well enough to know I'd do something stupid if he didn't give me carefully worded and firm parameters. Luckily, I listen better to my Jiminy than Pinnochio ever did to his.

I took my time getting around to rolling any rocks since I've been recuperating from a nasty bronchial virus I caught over two weeks ago. The delay gave the lizards and the little semi-feral garden kitty time to claim the rock pile. Little Missy regularly sits on the largest boulders surveying her domain while toasting her petite fanny on its sun-warmed surface. The lizards enjoy sunbathing too as well as darting in and out of every shadowy crevice catching bugs to eat.

Once I was feeling up to it, I rolled the first rocks into place to better define a canna lily bed (above). The rocks fit like a glove. I was feeling so good about them that I decided to roll a few more into place in a different location under the lemon tree to better define the path that curves under its branches (below). These large boulders will be an important addition to hold pea gravel in place so I can place flagstones along the remainder of the path as I've already done further back toward the shed and thicket.

After rolling 5 boulders weighing at least 100 lbs piece I was pooped. I have yet to roll anymore from the pile. I have to do some planning and clearing first. I got the clearing pretty much done the past couple of days. Now I just need to decide what goes where.

In the meantime, Little Missy and the lizards are doing a great job vying for who is Ruler of the Rock Pile.