Flashback and Foodie Friday - Bubbling Rock!

I use Fridays as an excuse to dig back in my pictures for something interesting. So join me as I Flashback on one of my favorite spots in the yard...the bubbling rock (maybe you've seen me mention it)...and how it came to be!


Now I am one of those people that has very often said... I NEVER WIN ANYTHING. A couple of years ago I couldn't say that very loud because something happened to change that very sad fact! As I was moseying around at the Western Washington State fair (also know as "The Puyallup") admiring some of the garden and pond displays, I put my name on a little scrap of paper and threw it in a cardboard box full of about 100 million other names. For those of you that haven't heard of it, it's one of the largest state fairs in the country and a really fun place to visit.

Home of the Krusty Pup


Frankenstein Pumpkin


Gorgeous comptetive floral displays


Really cool thingys made from all sorts of agricultural products


Miles of Dahlias to order from Connells


Goats on spools



And of course the Merry go Round



So....a few unsuspecting days after we visited the fair I got a phone call advising me that I was A WINNER! Boy did I do the happy dance. At that moment I really wasn't sure what the heck I had actually won. A bubbling rock they said..but I wasn't sure what that really meant. Still..I did the happy dance. So a few days later, when they were dismantling the fair displays they asked me to meet them with a truck to claim my prize. Yikes....a truck??? I had none, so I chanced it with my trusty Honda Accord. I was greeted by two very friendly pond/garden people from Mystic Falls Watergardens. I wish I could remember their names. They took my picture by my prize and even one with me receiving a certificate! I think I might have been on the website at some point but my 15 minutes of bubbling rock fame is over. Here I am and thats the rock still part of the display. It's got some really neat veins of greens in it and according to the pond people would cost $800 if I went to their place to buy it. Can you believe it? It might have something to do with the big hole they drilled through it. Plus they threw in a pump to go with it.



Here are the trusy pond folk and the rock after it had been hoisted and loaded on to this little dolly. They said they could come install it and make it look pretty like their display for a mere $1200 bucks....but stay tuned to see what we did to keep that money in our pocket.



Let me tell you...my Honda felt like it wasn't going to get up the little hills between the fair and my house. It had a very saggy behind! And hmmmm...I'm thinking all the way home. How in the heck are we going to get this thing out of the trunk?????? Thank goodness for our young longshoreman neighbor who happened to be outside when I got home. 23 year olds are handy to have around when lifting bubbling rocks. Randy and him put it in a wheelbarrow and we brought it to the back yard where it sat on my back steps faithfully guarded by Jigs all through the winter and into the early spring months.


We did prepare a spot for it in the fall..basically we redesigned the entire flower bed to extend it around our back patio. Sounds easy enough, but required a lot of digging. The milk crate marked the spot we planned to put the rock.


So on a rare sunny day in February we decided the time was right to start the BIG project. First step was to dig. This is the start that we made..then I am suspecting the rains started again and many days passed before I have another picture...Jigs served as the foreman of the project all along the way.



Here it is after that month of rain. Randy had to siphon the water out with a hose and Jigs was a little bit mesmerized by the bubbles. I think the thought there was a monster under that murky water.



More rain ensued (I am certain) but there was also digging that was done, because by April the hold was deep enough to hold that milk crate..which would become the platform for the rock.


Finally by May it must have been dry enough to complete the project. Here you can see how we lined it...first with some carpet out of my friend Sue's house she was renovating and then heavy black plastic sent to me by a Gardenbuddy, Lynn from a bit further south in Washington. I was so thankful for her generosity. The lining is really a huge expense when builting a water feature like this.

Here Jigs is inspecting this stage in the build


So after all of those winter months of planning this was Randy's little contraption for shimmying the rock in place.



Then voila like magic we got it in place and had the hose pushed up through the expensive hole



At this point we felt we could start filling and relax a little bit with most of the hard work done.



Next step was to place the rocks that we found in an empty commercial lot not far from our house. Another stressor on the ole Honda!



And a few plants to start filling in


Later in the summer it became the neighborhood bath house


And by the time the fair rolled around again



The flowers had filled right in



So those of you who came for Foodie Friday are probably wondering what the heck any of this has to do with you. How about some good ole Fair Food in honor of my Bubbling Rock Saga..my favorite and a must have.....


Don't forget to go check out all of the great Foodie Friday posts over at Designs by Gollum.




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