A GREAT WEEKEND!

And so the weekend began. The dog is standing on my freshly tilled soil, a hard clay that is saturated with night crawlers and earth worms. It wasn't difficult to turn but it took all afternoon. When Michael got home, he saw all my hard work and decided to remove the huge, pine tree's stump that occupied most of the center of the back yard. I didn't think he would accomplish this feat so quickly but I came downstairs Friday morning to this view. When he puts his mind to something, he accomplishes it!

As you can very well see, this stump is not small bit of a ball and its branches reached wide and far. Using every tool imaginable (to include car jacks and wedges) they (Michael, Josh and Jeremy) worked dilegently into the night and were able to get the stump out before midnight. How these men did so much in the dark is beyond me. So now the clean-up begins.

I tilled the remainder of the yard, and, after work and a crazy run to the pediatrician (another blog I'm sure), Michael filled in the large pot hole in the yard using the many rocks that they dug up with the root. Because it was not quite full and the ground was not even, he decided it needed top soil. I decided I had done enough and pulled out the old hookah, lit the fireplace and ordered pizza. We spent a very nice evening in front of a fire and enjoying all the hard work that we did.

Saturday meant more work! We turned more soil, weeded around the fence, pulled the junk up from the side of the patio, realigned the bricks around the tree in the front yard, and weed-eated around the driveway. Mike finished his filling of the pot hole then blew up the baby pool (barely seen on the left) as well as put the half tent up in the yard (not sure why he did the latter). I took some tough beef and marinated it all day, so the Weber came into the yard and we grilled steaks and potatoes in the early evening. Another day down!

Sunday dawned grey and chilly. We stayed out of the yard for most of the day, having other things as well as extremely sore muscles complaining of overuse and abuse. But late this afternoon we decided to clean up, sweep up and move and remove and so we now wait for grass to grow. If it doesn't (two week limitation here) it is time to get about 600 sq/ft of top soil and start again. The season is young and we can probably have grass by the end of summer. Mike said he is more excited about this project than any other as he has never had a grassy backyard in his life. The simple joys are the most pleasant and loved. I can't wait for our first crab fest of steamed crabs and Frogmore stew with biscuits and coleslaw. YUM YUM!