Today, we received thirty tons of 3/4" stone:

Rick scooped most of it into the concrete form for our workshop:

After that, we made a french drain around the back wall:

First, we put down a layer of stone:

Then, a layer of straw:

Then, some perforated drain pipe:

Followed by another layer of straw and stone:

...and finally, a layer of filter fabric which I later covered with dirt:

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After Rick left, I spent a few hours shaping the stone. It needs to be sculpted such that the edges slope up from a depth of sixteen inches to five inches. During my raking marathon we were hit by a huge rainstorm. As has become the custom this season, the sky went from blissfully blue to dark and ominous in the space of five minutes. Then, the heavens opened up and unleashed a biblical torrent of rain.

One plus to this wacky weather we've been having is that we can easily see if our rainwater management plans are working. The french drain behind the workshop wasn't flowing yet (not enough rain, I suppose), but the channel of dirt above it had a nice little river following the pipe all the way to the drywell we are building. As I smoothed out a few high spots in the dirt, I felt like a little kid playing in a sandbox with a bucket of water. This rules!