Kindness Rocks

 Kindness Rocks is a movement that has gone viral recently.  And the bug has caught me too!  I first found it on Facebook, someone had painted a cute little butterfly on a rock and wrote "SMILE" on it.  And it made me smile.  So I looked further into it and found an entire community of rock painters!  

Since I always seem to have crafting supplies on hand, and an abundance of rocks in my yard, I grabbed a few and tried painting on my own, and found I enjoyed it!  I took one of them and left it tucked unto a planter at my work place.  It was found, because it's gone .... and I'm still hoping someone will post a photo of it on one of the Facebook pages.  I'm currently watching "Arizona Rocks" , "Phx Hidden Rocks" and "MGR" (Mesa Gilbert Rocks).  

When I looked into the Kindness Rocks movement, I discovered it was started by Megan Murphy in 2015 on Cape Cod.  She wrote "You've got this" on a rock and left it on the beach.  A friend found it, and she started leaving more rocks.  As you can see, it sure has caught on!  

The Kindness Rocks Project page says:  "One message at just the right moment can change someone's entire day, outlook, life."    Their purpose is to cultivate connections within communities and lift others up through simple acts of kindness.

It's kind of the same thing I've done for years in my office.  I have a small white board on my door and each day I change the quote, with the same thought that it just might matter in someone else's life. 

Here's my recent batch of rocks ready to be spread around my community! 

Back Yard, Left Side

From this to that!

In 4 years, the backyard has been transformed.

It didn't happen overnight.

There was a lot of "trial and error"

trying to find the right combination of plants, brick, rock, etc

But with a little imagination, 

some ingenuity,

and plain old hard work - 

Much better, don't you think??

(right side tomorrow! )

Shopping Spree!

I'v e been telling myself "I will get around to it" and that time never seems to come.... there's always something that needs to be improved in the back yard, but gosh.... that will always be the case, I'm sure.

So in a spur of the moment with my brain screaming "I can't stand it any longer" I zipped into our local landscaping company and placed an order for some Santa Fe Brown rock -- 7 tons of it to be exact! They said they could deliver on Saturday... but I opted for next Thurs when I'm off work -- and when the forecast predicts only the 80s instead of high 90s for this weekend.   So..... yes, I will be a busy gal!  I think I outta start taking my vitamins now, get something in the reserve tank for next weekend.  But it's gonna be great!

When I bought my house, the backyard was bare, except for one palm tree, one slab of cement, and a bunch of weeds.  From there, I found that when it rained, water sluiced down from the back of the yard toward the house, creating a huge puddle on top of my covered patio.  I didn't like this one bit, and experimented from time to time with digging up parts of the yard to make room for some natural water flow, but water doesn't flow on an upgrade very well.  So .. next idea!  I slid a piece... ok, so I hammered a piece of PVC pipe under the walkway so water will have a place to drain. Attached to the PVC I stuck on some special PVC drainage pipe that has holes in it.  Unless we get more than 1.5" of rain in one shot, the water all goes where its supposed to... down the drain and into the ground without leaving puddles behind.

I also worked hard on the yard, creating a cactus corner, raking all the loose river rock from the yard into the section around the palm tree, edging it in with some brick.  Then with some wall blocks, created a planter box along the fence line, painted one wall of the fence that was a different color (now its rainbow stripes!) and planted a bunch of different cacti in places... all fun stuff for me!!!

But now ... the biggest major steps are done.  I think.
Even if they aren't, I've had all I can take and we're putting in some rock!
Thursday is going to be one busy day!

The RockHound

The Earth is made of rock, from the tallest mountains to the floor of the deepest ocean. Thousands of different types of rocks and minerals have been found on Earth. Most rocks at the Earth's surface are formed from only eight elements (oxygen, silicon, aluminum, iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, and sodium), but these elements are combined in a number of ways to make rocks that are very different.

Rocks are continually changing. Wind and water wear them down and carry bits of rock away; the tiny particles accumulate in a lake or ocean and harden into rock again. The oldest rock that has ever been found is more than 3.9 billion years old. The Earth itself is at least 4.5 billion years old, but rocks from the beginning of Earth's history have changed so much from their original form that they have become new kinds of rock. By studying how rocks form and change, scientists have built a solid understanding of the Earth we live on and its long history.

Why rocks?  Well, I've always considered myself a rock collector, a RockHound.  I don't do it to study the types of rocks, what they're made of, or where they're from.  I just like rocks that have a good shape, an interesting look, something special about where they're from.  I found out on vacation that my Uncle Jim felt the same way:  He liked rocks too!

One of my "must see" places on vacation was the beach.  And my beach of choice is Natural Bridges State Beach.  As we were driving there, I was telling my aunt that I had been cleaning out a drawer, and happened to find a picture of her and my uncle at that very beach, in 1993.  Once we got to the beach, I went my own way, my mom and aunt went theirs.  I was off taking pictures, I'm sure they were off talking as they walked along.

After getting my fill of pictures, I looked around for them, and didn't see them, so I started back to the car.  As I walked along in the sand, a rock presented itself, and something said "pick it up"  (the one on the left).  I slid it into my pocket, and walked to the top of the hill, finding 'the girls' there.  First thing Mom says is "look what I found..." and pulled a rock out of her pocket.  She said it was nowhere near any other rocks, and looked like it had just put itself in their path.  I chuckled, and showed her my own rock and said I had the same story.  We all laughed, knowing that Jim was there, prompting us.  Because that's how Jim was. 

A year has gone by without him in our lives, and he is missed.  But there's something special in knowing that he's there, watching over us.  And yes, I kept both rocks, they're here in AZ with the rest of my special rocks. Uncle Jim, you are loved, we all miss you a lot.  Thanks for the rocks!!