So the backyard project continues…and continues…and continues. In the latest chapter, we find our heroes digging a very large hole in what once was our yard. The task was to dig down 18 inches. Hey, no problem, said Chuck. He called a few friends and amazingly they agreed to help (the fools!). Okay, I agreed too, so I should be careful about who I go calling a fool.

At 7:30am on Saturday we headed out back, armed with picks and shovels and (thank God!) a jackhammer. The dirt was hard as cement and the digging turned out to be pretty back-breaking work. We rented a six ton low-boy dumpster to hold the dirt and by 3pm we had filled that sucker. Sunday we did a bit more clean up and breaking up of dirt, then on Monday they came and hauled away the old dumpster and on Tuesday they brought a new one, which we have managed to fill with still more dirt (Chuck had to hire day laborers for this second half of digging – his weekend warrior helpers refused as one to have anything more to do with shovels unless it was to beat him over the head with them). So now we find ourselves with a yard that for all the world looks like it’s getting ready for a pool. Tomorrow we are going to talk to some tile folks about phase three of the project. Photos of the pretty big dig are here. Photo of my blister from all the shoveling is here.