Moving a Mountain (a Mulch Mountain, that is)

Here is some of what we've been doing to stay busy...

Ahhh...2 weeks ago I had a long-awaited delivery of mulch!  And not just any mulch--FREE mulch!  Well, actually, I had to pay for the delivery, but the mulch itself cost nothing! 

Along the back of our yard there are some planted pine trees and the ground around that is all stones and roots and weeds and dirt.  And such a pain to mow.  I have been dreaming of mulch.  Sweet mulch.

I found an add on Craig's List for free mulch-yay!  They asked me how much I needed.  Wow--I have no concept of that stuff.  I just said that I needed A LOT.  They told me that they would load up their truck and give me all that they had left.  Awesome.

I was SO excited when I heard the truck coming.  It sounded big.  It was big.  It was a big old dump truck full of mulch.  I was giddy with excitement.  Really, I was.

Yeah, so in my plans, of course, I imagined that the mulch would be dumped very close to where I needed it.  Unfortunately, like all projects, plans and reality are very different. :)  It had rained just a little bit before the truck came and the driver was nervous about getting stuck in our yard and we weren't too excited about that either. :)

Alas, the mulch had to be dumped along the road.  It was a mountain.  A mountain that had to be moved.  By me.

And thus began my two-week adventure with mulch.  Using a huge wheelbarrow from our neighbors (Thanks, T&D!), I moved the first half with a shovel.  Scraping it onto the street with a little shovel and then scooping it up with a BIG shovel--using proper lifting technique, of course.  :)  A week into my mulch moving, J got me a pitch fork.  Ahh...a pitch fork.  So much easier!  Having the right tools for the job totally makes a difference.

Oh, and when I had only about 10 more loads to move (really just the stuff that was covering the grass), I discovered that the reason the wheelbarrow had been squeaking all along was because it had a flat tire.  The whole time I had been pushing that thing with a flat tire!  When it was re-inflated I couldn't believe how much easier it was to push.  Imagine that! :)

And now I am finally done!  LOVE how it looks.  Love that it will make mowing the lawn so much easier.  And love that J is just finishing up our deck so that when we sit outside it gives us a nice view.

{After moving just a few loads.  This is about 12 cubic yards, which I can now say I have a physical concept of.}

{About 3/4ths of the way done!}

{My long trek to the backyard--with a flat tire, no less. ;) }

{The weedy, rocky back yard with just one tree done.}

{The finished project.  Ahhh....}

And there you have it--a whole post about MULCH.  ;)  Now onto other fun projects--like painting my bedroom! :)