You Old Sod

I woke moderately early – about 7am. I didn’t feel nearly as good as I did Saturday, but then again, I didn’t drink 30 beers Friday night either. In reality, I drank only five Saturday night and that was over a span of about 4 hours. Because it was Sunday, I didn’t do calisthenics. I did plan to run, of course. I made coffee then took to the PC to catch up on all the college football finals. Frankie seemed tuckered and in no hurry to vacate her pen. I left her be while I enjoyed the quiet house. I sipped down two cups of coffee before readying for a run. I didn’t want to head out too late. I had a lot I wanted to accomplish, including tearing out the old dead grass between the walk and street and then resodding. As hoped, the weather forecast was ideal for the project.– partly cloudy today then two days of moderate rain. After a quick stretch, I headed off on a run. I did the usual three mile Sunday keeping it inside the subdivision. I was a little surprised to find Mindy up when I got back home. Apparently Frankie had just crawled out of her pen, too. The kids were just getting up as well. I didn’t wait too long before heading out front to rip out what remained of the old grass I sprayed with Round-Up a couple weeks ago. Before heading out, I woofed down two bowls of Wheaties. I was hopeful that the dead grass would come easily with the help of a stiff rake and/or dethatcher. And thankfully it did, although my arms still got one heck of a workout. I measured the area to determine the correct amount of sod I’d need. It measured 130 square feet, or 6.5’ by 20’. While raking away the dead grass, I snagged several tree roots, which I decided to expose and remove. I ended up revealing roots as big around as 3” in diameter and then tons of hair-like finger roots just below the dirt surface. This is the same area that I reseeded only two years ago. That time I used neighbor Carl's rototiller and then topped it off with two inches of new topsoil. All those roots might very well explain why the turf browned out so easily once summer's heat hit. The Autumn Blaze maple I have planted there seems to have a root system similar to that of a silver maple. I realize, too, that my aggressive root removal may very well kill the tree in the end, but so be it. I can’t have the tree killing my lawn, or worse yet, heaving my walk someday. Satisfied that I had the area prepped as well as I possibly could, I headed inside to call Strader’s to make sure they had enough sod on hand. They did. The price she quoted was $1 cheaper per square yard than it was last spring when we sodded the area we built up out back. That made me happy. Quick math told me I’d need roughly 15 pieces. I headed over to dad’s to get his trailer, but not before filling my air compressor tank, so I could make sure the trailer tires were properly inflated. Dad was home as made apparent by the presence of both vehicles. I knocked on the door to which he quickly responded. We walked out back together to empty the few tree limbs currently resting in the trailer. I checked the air even after dad said they were good. I added air to both bringing them to 50 PSI. Off to Strader’s. It’s a relatively quick drive up Riverside Dr to Bethel Rd. I pulled around to the area where they typically keep sod. Looked real nice, and they had plenty. Sweet. I headed inside to pay. I decided to get an extra piece – 16 to be exact. I paid for a 3.8 cubic ft. bale of Canadian peat moss, too. The cashier dispatched a couple employees to the sod area to load my trailer. Three Mexican-looking fellas showed up. They very quickly rolled and tossed18 pieces into the trailer. They didn't seem to speak English. After loading the sod, I drove around the corner to the area where they kept the peat. I loaded it myself. After a thankful nod, I headed home. I was gone less than an hour. Once home, my first order of business was spreading the peat evenly and then putting down starter fertilizer. I raked it in really well before laying the first piece of sod. The sodding went pretty quick. Carl stopped over to chat, but I kept working while talking. He shared the problems he’s having with his newer PC. Kept referring to this guy named Dale that’s been trying to help him. We were well into our conversation before it finally occurred to me that he was saying Dell, not Dale.  It took 14.5 pieces of sod to complete the job. While I was watering it in really well, Mindy and the kids left for soccer. They planned to do Sunday dinner at her mom’s, too, but would be coming home first to get Mindy’s latest apple pie, the second one she’s made in less than a week. I an effort to get sodding done, but also finish the tree house, I wouldn’t be joining them. I kept a watchful eye on the auxiliary water meter while using the water. Seems to be working fine after the ol’ tap, tap, tap. Seeing no sign of Kenny, whose hel pI needed with the tree house, I decided to mow the front lawn. It was twice as long as the back, and if I didn’t get to it then, who knew when my next opportunity would be. I cut it pretty quickly. It was only Wednesday when I last cut it 94 days ago). I decided to cut the upper back too. Looked good when I finished, save for all the leaves coming down. I had just headed inside for a brief break and settled down in front of my PC to check on the Vikings’ score when Mindy and the kids returned from soccer to fetch the apple pie, recycling, and Frankie. Must’ve been near 5p. Bella shouted out, “guess who won?” I assumed she was referring to Jacob’s soccer game, but she meant the Viking game. I saw the score – 24-10 Vikings’. Wahoo! Mindy apparently followed via her Droid while watching Jacob's soccer game. As soon as I finished the lawn I watered all the backyard flowers and topped off the hot tub. By then, it was 530pm. My body ached head to toe, and I was a muddy mess from handling the sod. A hot shower was just what the doctor ordered. Ahh! It felt incredible. Back downstairs, I took Frankie out for a backyard romp. She took care of business. Now about 6pm, I tuned into NFL football with the volume down low and grabbed my most recent book and then snuggled up in the family room chair. That felt great, too. I read, napped, and watched NFL for the next 90 minutes. Mindy and the kids got home from Sunday dinner at 730p. They asked how much I got done on the tree house. None. As hard as I worked, I could’ve felt sorry for myself for their asking, but I didn’t. They just want it done, just like me. Mindy had the kids ready themselves for bed with showers and jammies. She declared 830p bedtime. Bella and I shared a bowl of popcorn just prior. She and Frankie love it almost as much as me. Aside from some cheese and lunch meat, that served as my dinner. Mindy declared herself ready for bed at 9pm. I, on the other hand, was determined to stay up a while longer watching SNF – Jets vs. Dolphins. I watched until 10p then headed for bed.