The New Stone Age
 |
| Rose Quartz and Clear Quartz Crystals |
My husband and I have lived together in the Ozark Mountains since 1978. Our 1978 home was built into a rocky hilltop above a river which required blasting into the solid rock that became two walls of the full walk-out basement. Living on a steep hill required some creative landscaping. Terracing began shortly after we moved into the house in 1986. I think we may be done now in 2014 having completed all the gardens we want and the leveled paths and sidewalks for access.
Life takes many paths. It is not the destination but the journey that gives life meaning. Every project was an act of love as we grew together and shared the joy as we worked together. Our home is the center of our life and, like our 40 year marriage, has evolved as an example of reaping what we have sown. To celebrate our 40 year anniversary and the completion of major landscape projects in 2014, our yearly trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas included just the the right symbols to bring home - crystals placed on either side of our new back steps that are located in the center of our home and yard. We will pass by them every time we go outside and it is the perfect place to sit. It is the bridge between inside and outside, rest and work, and of being alone or together. It is now time to sit and view the life we have built together.
The Rose Quartz Crystal is the stone of unconditional love and infinite peace. It is the most important crystal for the heart; calming, reassuring, strengthening empathy and sensitivity and aids the acceptance of necessary change. It encourages self-forgiveness and acceptance, and invokes self-trust and self-worth. The Clear Quartz Crystal is the most powerful healing and energy amplifier on the planet because of its unique helical spiral crystalline form. It absorbs, stores, releases, and regulates energy and is excellent for unblocking it. It raises energy to the highest possible level. It is a master healer.
"Crystals have an extremely high vibration that raises consciousness and opens the higher chakras to communicate with other dimensions." The Crystal Bible, A Definitive Guide to Crystals by Judy Hall.
 |
| Main Garden Terraces from front yard to back yard. Vegetables on the right and flowers on the left. |
 |
| Lower Terraced Gardens between Main Terraced Gardens and backyard; mostly lilies, irises, and roses. The garden shed is at the bottom on the left side of the photo. |
 |
| This is where the Terraced Gardens join with the new sidewalk. |
 |
| View from deck looking down on new sidewalk that joins the Terraced Gardens |
 |
| View from deck looking down on the new sidewalk towards the north corner of the house. |
 |
| New sidewalk looking from north corner on left towards Terraced Gardens on right. |
 |
| New sidewalk from north corner of the house to the front yard. Bobi Kitty gave his stamp of approval by walking on it before the concrete set! |
 |
| This is where the sidewalk joins the front brick patio…a very steep slope! |
 |
| Bobi Kitty is checking out the last landscape project which is to be a small Native Plants Garden next spring. The native rock and concrete retaining wall was in process of completion... |
 |
| First, Keith scoops dry cement mix on top of the rocks set into concrete from a couple days ago... |
 |
| Next, Keith sweeps off the dry cement mix to expose the rock faces and cover all the cracks and crevices... |
 |
| Finally, Keith sprays water to wash off the dry cement mix from the rock faces and carefully blends the rocks and cement for an attractive native rock retaining wall. |
 |
| Last bag of concrete this year! Sure have gotten our money's worth out of this old mixer bought in the early 1990's. |
All the above photos were taken this last week of October in 2014. We are expecting our first hard freeze in a few days. The next group of photos were taken in 2012 and 2013 when the new sidewalk was begun. It shows the preparation work…
 |
| First form laid had the local inspector checking to see if all was in order! This wild vixen came around our yard a lot in October 2012 as she had a gimp leg and must have felt safe here. Didn't see her in 2013. |
 |
| After the sidewalk was completed along the length of the house, the connecting section were formed on the sloped joining it to the Terraced Gardens. |
 |
| Transplants from under the oak tree were planted along the sidewalk in June 2012. |
 |
| July 2012 had new block planters built. |
 |
| Now in early 2014, the old wood retaining wall needed to be removed as it was one of the first projects and was now rotting. The dirt behind it was very good and needed to be removed to a new location and will later be filled with gravel for better drainage so close to the house. |
 |
| By summer 2014, we were ready to get moving. After removing the old rotten wood retaining wall, the good dirt was hard packed from where we kept firewood and later used the concrete mixer when the basement floor needed re-leveling. This large machine did the job of tearing out the wood and breaking the top layer of soil. It was too big to maneuver around without damaging the deck; took out two support poles in the process! |
 |
| We have rented this size machine before when we moved a lot of gravel around the gardens in earlier years. It does a good job of digging and is small enough to maneuver well. The good dirt here was moved to level out the washed-out slope on the north side of the house and to make a terraced native plant garden. |
 |
| Took out all the good dirt until we hit the original rock. Next spring we will fill with gravel and have a patio or fire pit area. |
 |
| Good dirt was moved to level off this portion of the yard into a terraced native plant area. |
 |
| Native rocks were roughly placed in the high end of this terrace and later were set in with concrete. |
 |
| This is what the north side yard looked like before adding dirt and preparing for a sidewalk. It is a steep slope with the front yard level with the main floor and the backside level with the basement entrance. It was a big problem for many years washing out any attempts to plant grass so mulch was spread repeatedly. |
 |
| This slope needs a concrete sidewalk before rain washes all the new dirt away. |
No comments:
Post a Comment