So the day when I sit back and just water and mow is quickly approaching. A few big hurdles were cleared over the past two weekends. Last weekend I finally got rid of the old grass! I went to Home Depot to get a sod cutter but after a conversation with Rick in the rental department, it was clear that I needed an industrial strength tiller. So back home I came with a 300-pound behemoth and proceeded to rip up all the dead grass.

The plan is now to turn the backyard into a dirt patch, water it a few times to see if any weeds grow (killing them if they do), and get some sod in two weeks. The last little kink in the plan is two big stumps on the south side of the yard. No big deal right? Just get a stump grinder and knock them out!

Well, as past yard projects have already shown, nothing is quite that easy. Today I got the stump grinder to finish the job. It was a pain to use; every time the machine tilted too far, the fuel cut and the motor shut off – absolutely maddening. I lost my patience with the thing a few times and came close to lighting the dumb thing on fire. I ended up using a machete, a sawzall, a chainsaw (after I gave up on the sawzall), a shovel, the stump grinder, and a few curse words to get the job done. Good news is that next week should be as easy as unrolling and watering right?