The slope of weeds is slowly progressing. Here it is in all its current glory:

You can clearly see the old soil, the new soil, and the soil still to be shovelled in place.

Also you can see some stones. That big one in the foreground is the largest stone that came out of that slope. It is so heavy that we pulled it out with the car. Now I’m not sure what to do with it. It is kind of decorative, and I like it because it now has a history. So I’m thinking it might be nice to have that stone in some sunny spot in the garden. But it is effectively impossible to move without a crane, and I’m not exactly going to rent a crane just to lift this stone into a pretty place.

The stones bordering the staircase is what I worked on this weekend. I had already stacked a layer of stones there last summer, to separate the soil from the stairs. Those stones also all came out of the slope as I was digging there. Now as I started putting the new soil in place, I realised I needed to raise the border if I wanted the slope to have a reasonable angle. So I added another layer.

It’s only twelve or fifteen stones but it took me hours and hours to assemble. I want the wall to be stable enough for the kids to step on it. It should neither fall apart nor hurt any kids. That means stacking the stones so their weight rests on other stones (not loose soil, or the edge of the stairs) and finding the right stones so they fit well together, without wobbling or slipping.

After a while I realised that the heaviest stones gave the most stable result, so I ended up working with stones I could just barely carry. It was like doing a jigsaw puzzle with huge stone pieces and no one right answer, and half the pieces didn’t fit anywhere. I still have a pile of stones left over.

I was knackered by the evening but I did get it done (and didn’t break any of my fingers) and the end result feels really good and solid!