Lawn Tractors (And The Cycle Of Life)

As I was driving to and from Indy, I noticed several lawn tractors being towed on trailors, and it set my mind to thinking about how I cannot live another minute with my current mower.  It is nearly impossible to start, and I always have to use jumper cables and really just hope for the best (it usually helps to beat on the engine block with a rubber mallet while turning it over, just to shake things loose).  To say that it needs a new battery and a tune-up is an understatement, and that is totally separate from the fact that I hate how it cuts, as it has no guide-wheels on the mowing deck and has a tendency to scalp the lawn on any incline or slope.  Point being, I've wanted a new one since the second season I owned this one, which is to say, for three years.  I looked at used mowers and realized that for what I wanted, a new one was not much more than used, and there is always the peace of mind (and three year warranty) that comes with buying new.  So I cleaned up the Home Depot special, took a photo, put an ad on Craig's List, and went out to do a couple things outside.  When I came back in I had just about forgotten I placed the ad, but I had several interested people already!  One guy wanted to come over right away, and that's what he did -- with a trailor, and cash (cha-ching).  So just like that, the old mower was gone!  Monday afternoon, after finishing my research, I picked out the Cub Cadet 1046 VT, and how very sweet it is...  two-cylider, 46" cut, electric PTO (blade engagement), mulching kit, 11 cutting heights, deck wash system, glove box, and a cup holder.  It's a dream come true, really, and worth the four year wait.

Indianapolis Zoo.

Next we walked the canal downtown, and made our way to the zoo.  It was a pretty good zoo I thought, although I've only been to maybe four zoos in my whole life.  There were too many people, that's for sure, and I know people way better than I know zoos (and based on that, I'd say the fewer around the better).

Holliday Park.

Saturday mornings we like to visit Holliday Park, as Connor loves the playground equipment.  Not to shake a stick at what he has in his own backyard, ahem, but this park is pretty great.  And it turns out there is a lot more to the place than just the playground, I found after doing a quick Google search.  Curious about the spelling of the name?  So was I.  Some pics from the day!

Indy And Family.

We usually do a spring and fall trip to Indy, and this year so far is no different.  The drive to Indy is just over four hours, so I look at it as a prelude to the Real Deal drive to Long Island in the summer; it's a nice little warm up.  I usually get to see my sister* Lea while I'm there, and she loves seeing her nephew and niece, too!



*Lea is not actually my sister, but that's another topic to file under "Blended Families and the New Millennium".

And The Heavens Opened Up...

Crazy, crazy rain storm, and it made me realize that there's more work to be done on the lawn surrounding the play set.  Our property sits on too much clay, and drainage is always an issue.

The main thing though, was how relieved I was too have the major work done and the trees re-planted -- the weather last week was perfect, and it's not likely to be that nice again for a while, so we really had great luck with the timing of everything!

More Yard Work.

They finally came to replant the trees on Monday, thank goodness.  I also took some time to de-thatch and mow the lawn -- and note the mower, as it was not long for this household.  Long story, but between me and that lawn mower, well...  one of us was leaving, and it wasn't me.

He Is Risen!

Sunday was Easter, and it was a beautiful day.  We went to church at Cascade (our new church home), then to Jerry & Wendy's for Easter dinner and an Easter Egg Hunt.  Much candy and good times, and hopefully the kids picked up something about the true meaning of Easter, although I suspect it much like Christmas in that respect.

He Is Risen Indeed!

Time To Play!

It was a nice weekend, so we got some use out of the play set right away.  All I can say... I Hope The Kids Use It.

The Project: The Install!

The company I bought the play set from delivered it on Friday afternoon, and it was assembled but in like three parts.  Big, heavy stuff to be sure, but we were able to manage.

The Project, Part V.

Our second day working was spent leveling the sand, then installing a thick weed mat barrier, then spreading mulch over the whole area (and lots of it!).  I think it was ten yards of sand and almost nine yards of mulch, to fill an area that's 32' x 24' and about 7" deep.

The Project, Part IV.

I again thought I was back in bid'ness, but my day laborer fell through at the last minute.  I was lucky enough to find a buddy from Hope who did this kind of work, and we made plans to work all day Wednesday.  I had already bought all the materials, and I laid the timbers out in the rough shape of the rectangle I wanted to build.  Paul had the idea to have the sand delivered right away, and it was just one of many great ideas he had through the project.

After that we spent the day framing the surround, which is not rocket science, but the trick was getting the bottom row as close to level and square as possible.  Let's just say that some corners were easier than others!  It was great weather though, perfect for working in the sun.

  

Our little helper!

The Project, Part III.

So another neighbor runs an excavating company (and I'm not making this up).  I had him out early the next week with a bulldozer.  Talk about the right tool for the job!  And in the end I think I needed both, as we really did want to save the trees and the Bobcat was good for that piece of it.  Either way, thank goodness for neighbors!

The Project, Part II.

Sure, it started simply enough.  I talked to lots of people and thought I had things pretty well figured out, but then everything fell through and I was sort of back at square one.  But a neighbor out here has a landscaping business, and he offered to come over with his Bobcat and move the trees and level the berm.

But it turns out that was not the right equipment to level the berm, although it did well enough to move the trees.  It turns out with heavy clay like we have, some bigger guns were needed!

The Project, Part I.

It started as just the germ of an idea... a seed, really.  My dad thought we should buy a play set, initially for Connor, but of course for Evie too.  (It's not like my dad does not know that Evie exists, he totally does!)  So I started looking into them, and what's involved, the different construction methods and heights, etc. and it turned into quite an education.  But I decided on a company called Backyard Adventures and found a local dealer.  Now we'll go back in time just a bit, to the spring of 2006 when we moved into our new home... when we did our landscaping Jodi thought it would be nice to have a berm in the corner, with trees on it.  Sounds simple enough, so that's what we did.  Well it turns out that was a good idea for about six weeks, which was when the weeds started taking over.  The rest of the history of the berm is a torturous story of  long days sweating in the sun, fighting for control of the area from nature, of lots of money spent on chemicals that had no real impact, etc. It was our own little nightmare.  So in what seemed like a very synergistic (how often do you get a chance to use that word in a sentence!) idea, we figured we'd move the trees, knock down the berm, and put the play set in the corner!

Well that was the opening of what I affectionately (at least I can call it that now) referred to as our very own Pandora's Box...

CB turns 38!

Oh, it's really just a number, isn't it?  It's still in the '3's, albeit by a little less every year.  Not to worry, since I've read in many places that 38 is the new 32!  So I've got that going for me, which is nice...

We did what I would call "the usual", which means dinner at The Chop House (discount, cha-ching!), then a couple of the newer night life establishments.  It was a lot of fun and I thank my wife for making it such a special weekend.  :-)