Such a SOD story...

So after the tilling, raking and ..uhh... one water line repair job later... it was finally time for the sod. YAY SOD! I don't know if we were completely ready. Seems like there was always more stuff to rake up. But we felt like we got the bulk of it done and bagged, and quite literally our arms were about to give out after 2 weeks of this, so we broke down and called out yard guy Sam to come bring us some nice new grass.

This is what it looked like when I left in the morning...

And this is what it looked like when I came home from work!

I heart yard maintenance people.

That last day of raking was COMPLETE TORTURE.

Of course by now you guys are probably well aware that Dave and I base our relationship on a mutual love of procrastination (among other things; like chicken cutlets, Seinfeld re-runs, and booze. You know, the important things in life.) It's not like we did NO raking for 2 weeks. We actually raked every night after working 9-10 hours in an office building. But it was more like: rake rake rake, I'm tired, let's stop and go watch TV!!

But that last day we were left with much more than we thought we had to do and it went something like this:

Rake rake rake gee it's getting dark out here, rake rake rake these bugs are eating my face, rake rake rake I can't see anything oh there's the street light coming on that's helpful!

Yes.

We were literally those crazy neighbors out in the yard until 10 PM. I am not joking. BUT it's all in the past and it looks like a million bucks!

The Yard, Part 2

So after all the tilling came all the raking.

And then the raking.

And of course, don't forget about... the... raking.

That's because we had SO MANY weeds that you had to get them out of that dirt otherwise we'd be back to square one and we don't want that do we? (Noooooooo!) I researched extensively about the best way to prep the yard for the sod and I am aware that some people actually leave all those dead roots and weeds in there and plop the sod down on top because of the theory that the sod "chokes out" the weeds. To these people who are writing these articles online, may I ask you, have you EVER been to FLORIDA??? There is no WAY this theory holds any merit down here. We have killer amazon type weeds that will eat your house alive if you let them.



So we had to rake *every *single* piece of crap out of the yard. Yes it it just as tedious as it sounds.



When we were in that fantastic planning phase, where you talk about what you're about to tackle and nothing has actually gone wrong yet, we told a few neighbors of this ambitious plan to till and rake and sod the yard ourselves. I swear I saw them flinch as we told them this plan. Maybe they knew of the misery that lied ahead for us? but we seemed to determined to try and stop? I'm just guessing here. Either way, just had already jumped in the pool, now we were left to swim in it.



So here's the progress we made in two weeks:
NON RAKED......






RAKED.



Can't you tell the difference? Oh yeah. It was a fun 2 weeks.


And side note - only 12 extra strength Aleve's and a glass of whiskey will help the soreness that settles into your back after 2 weeks of raking.

The Yard, Part 1

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before, but Dave and I were GUNG HO on getting the yard into better shape this year. If you've talked to me in the past 6 months, I KNOW I've made this claim to you; to which you probably rolled your eyes mentally and thought yeah right!!! Who are those two kidding??

Well we finally tilled, raked, and successfully put sod down in the front.

BOOH YAH SUCKA.

We got the urge to till on the hottest day on record for Jacksonville (of course). I think it felt like 115 in the sun. I'm not even kidding. We found this great store down San Jose called "Do It Yourself" and they have every tool you could possibly want and or need for rent. We rented the most powerful tiller they had. As Tim the Tool Man Taylor would say, RAR RAR RAR RRAR RAARRR!!!

It was going pretty smooth until CRUNCH what the heck? UH OH we hit the main water line to the house. Luckily we live in a real neighborhood with actual neighbors who know a thing or two about lawn maintenance. (Who knew these places existed?) You've never seen a quicker bunch of men come to Dave's rescue. Our neighbor Richard kicked off his shoes and jumped into the mud to try and turn off the water at the street and neighbor Alan ran over with a new PVC pipe he had just laying around in his garage.

It doesn't look like much of a fiasco - but it was - trust me. There I was in the house, I look out the window and one minute, Dave is tilling away, and the next it's like Old Faithful in my front yard. Dave was digging frantically at the base of the spout, looking for the pipe. I stuck my head outside and no sooner could I say "Do you want me to call..." before Dave belted out "YES!!!" I didn't even know who I was supposed to call? Anyhoo the JEA truck pulled up just as said neighbor Richard found the off switch. Of course.

So after a LOOOOOOOONG day of tilling in the record setting heat, the yard finally went from looking like this....

To looking like this!

It doesn't look like much, but at least the weeds were turned over. Not bad for a $40 tool rental, a few gallons of water lost and an impromptu man party in the front yard. AND we can say we've got another skill under our belts.

Uhh... the dog ate my homework?

Ok so it's been awhile. What can I say? Sometimes when you're knee deep in a project you need BOTH hands to get it done. (Leaving no hands available to shoot pictures and type up an article. IF ONLY my parents had lived on a nuclear waste dump! Maybe I'd have that third arm! Damn them!)

BUT! We 've got lots of typical Wax shenanigans to share with you so fret not, my pretty. Stay tuned for lots of upcoming informational blogs which may or may not be about any or all of the following...

How NOT to Till up a Yard.
(and it's follow up article; How to Fix your Main Water Line After You've Run Over it.)

What your arms will feel like after 12 straight days of raking and what combination of pills will ease the pain.

Where Black Flies live in June and how you can book a Vacation there!

and of course....

Gardening while Drunk - Pros and Cons

I know. You're anxious to get started reading. BUT I've got a LOT of editing to do. (And just maybe I've got fireworks on the brain?)

(Hmm..... Or Margaritas... )

I'll be posting again starting Monday.
Have a great holiday everyone! We've missed you!