(almost) Finishing touches and stuff

 The Rock on a Roll arrived and I'm not unhappy with it.  It's a bit like textured wallpaper, but obviously made for outdoor use.  I wish I had opted for the grey instead of sandstone, but it was more expensive.  I think once there is more water in the pond, and next summer when there are more plants in and around it, it will blend in better.  I went wading (holy cold water!) and did my best to scoop the sand and river rock off the black liner and redeposit it on the edges of the Rock on a Roll.  Obviously it roiled the water and it's cloudy again, but that will clear up.  I carefully placed rocks along the edges to hold everything in place, and while I was at it I rocked in the bog garden, too. 

I lost one frog; not sure when or how, but the OG froggie sat on the edge of the pond while I puttered.  When I was done, I climbed out of the water and he jumped right back in!  I also lost my floating solar fountain.  I didn't realize it was missing until I had finished the edges inside the pond and was half way through putting rocks around the outside edges.  I think it floated under the Rock on a Roll when I lifted it to scoop sand and rocks off the sides.  I didn't have the energy to pull everything apart to try to find it, so it's now considered buried treasure.

I tried to put the chunks of sod back along the edge; according to what I've read, you should have at least one area that has grass along the edge.  This gives smaller frogs and insects a place to hide when they leave the water, and many times the stones along the edge are too hot for little creatures to traverse, whereas the grass is cooler.  I'm not sure that it will take, but we have a couple more days of rain coming to help bind it back to the earth.  

Oh, that line of stones in the background?  That's the edging for my patio.

It's made from mostly square cut granite that's been lying around the farm since the beginning.  It's almost a shame half of the block is buried in the ground, but I wanted to use material on hand for this.  Now I just have to mark out the other edges and get some aggregate delivered.  I know it all looks rough, but that's how I like it.  If I wanted perfection, I'd use preformed blocks from Lowe's. I want this to look like it's been here forever.  I planted my yellow twig dogwood shrub at the end; I needed to get that poor thing into the ground!  Next year this area is going to look really good, once the grass grows back in and the patio is set up and the fireplace is out there.  Patience...Rome wasn't built in a day.  😊