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Make hay while the sun shines
May 2, 2006
The modern urban version to this old adage could be "roto till the entire backyard, re-grade and plant grass seed (ie: work your buns off) on the beautiful sunny weekend because the forecast predicts rain for the following week" So, guess what we did this past weekend?
A look at our last 3 weekends shows a consistent pattern of outdoor yard work. With this latest effort being by far the most strenous and stressful of them all. We've been talking about how "someday" we needed to regrade the back yard because there were pockets and dips throughout the yard not to mention we have a finished basement suite we rent and need to ensure stays dry. Hence we wanted to build up the yard a bit around the back foundation of the house. "Someday" we also wanted to seed some bare patches in our backyard with grass. And "someday" soon we needed to prepare the bare dirt behind the garage to be a raspberry patch. Well someday happened this past weekend a little sooner than we had expected.
Early last week I saw that the forecast for the week was very good - clear & sunny with increasingly warm temps. as we approached the weekend. The weekend itself was more of the same. So, I tossed out the idea that we tackle the backyard on the weekend. Not realizing all that would entail, especially for my husband who did almost all of the labor. On Thursday after seeing that the weather was predicted to get rainy this week, perfect grass seed germinating weather, we decided to take the plunge having no idea what we were really getting into.
We are now safely through the whole experience and my husband is thoroughly exhausted and I'm busy cleaning dirt and mud from shoes, clothing, floors, in between toes etc... At least we are nicely tanned.
As you can probably tell the project was a little bit more than we anticipated but if we had anticipated it we probably wouldn't of done it! But we did and now it's done. Now I know a little what it feels like to be a farmer. Having faith that the soil you tilled and the seed you planted will bear fruit, all that work won't be in vain. Grow litte seeds grow!
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Karen on May 2, 2006, 7:47 p.m.
The unknown does have its advantages - good for you to jump in literally with both feet and get a huge project done. With all the rain that you usually get, your back yard will soon be coming up grass!
Karen on May 3, 2006, 4:46 a.m.
Wow! you are becoming more like your parents then you care to admit. To make such a decision of such magnitude (hard work) in a short period of time then go all out to finish it sounds like something I would do. Isnt it a wonderful feeling to be able to accomplish something of that nature and then to look at the results of your hard work with a sense of well being. Dad