"I Got a Rock"

  Merry Christmas!

This farm set was one of the most memorable Christmas gifts I have ever gotten. (Family legend says it took Santa all night to assemble it, but I am sure he knows how much I loved it.) I played and played and played and PLAYED with that farm until I wore it out.

I got another one of those memorable Christmas gifts this year at an early gift exchange with Curt and Vanessa. What did I get? 

 

I got a rock!

Vanessa sent Abby's picture to a woman who did rock art and look what she made for me! Such a personal and very thoughtful gift. (Yep, I cried when I saw it.) Thanks so much, Vanessa and Curt!

I cannot lift it so Curt and Craig had to help me transport it home and then settle it into my stepping stone garden.

It's a nice addition, don't you think?

And it looks nice with the stepping stones, the statue of our first dog, Duffy, our ancient garden turtle, and the Great Blue Heron statue that was a gift from me to Craig.

Have a Merry Christmas, everyone! And if you don't celebrate it, a relaxing and enjoyable day.

My Stepping Stone Garden

I love my stepping stone garden! Originally intended to be a grandchildren handprint garden, it has grown into far more than that.

It has some "just because" stones that the grandchildren have made, too. See Braden's on the far right? And the one commemorating Hurricane Irma? 

Just because they have one that I made with their handprints (or footprints) doesn't mean that they don't want to make another.

Zeus' pawprints are there, and that "family stone" was Addie's idea - everyone who was present added a decoration.

 Oh the memories that flood back as I look at them all!

 Can you see JC's name done in white glass ornaments and his footprint right in the middle?

 Lukie's stone is our most recent. I still need to get Susie and I think I need Titan, too.

The back two here were made after others had been finished and we had leftover concrete to use up. That happens every now and then.

 Addie commemorated the date that we made some "just because" stones - they were here on September 11, 2017 as Hurricane Irma was roaring across Florida and they had come north to be safe with us.

It is getting harder and harder to find space for the stepping stones. And, there are an additional seven or eight that went home with the people who made them for their own gardens.

 Both Mila's and Cambria's are a little overshadowed by the tulips that are growing beside theirs.

 I've thought that it might be fin to make a pathway to a fountain or garden in the back yard using these stepping stones, but I've decided that I don't want anyone walking on them lest the stones crack and break.

After all, they really are treasures to me.