Thanks for your comments everyone.
I agree that dirt on the vertical sides of the banks would be nice. I don't think I can agree with the spotty water issue, however. There needs to be some contrast between what the character can walk on and what it can't walk on. Identifying which stones can be moved is a good point and problem. As of now, I have some stones that are sprites, and the rest are either square walled stuff or sitting in the water. As far as the game goes, if you move a stone over water, it's no longer going to be able to move around and instead becomes a platform. If it's on the grass, then it's an obstacle. The sqare items are meant to be immobile, so shape does play a role in distinguishing what can be moved. Anyhow, it's up to the coder to use or not use them and I'm having some fun with these. Maybe if I added another highlight to the movable stones, they would pop out better.
Another update. Added some crop fields, included the house, added a Helm sprite, etc...