Wednesday, April 13, 2011

A Rough Patch

Our poor, poor backyard. It was originally put in by professional landscapers nearly 7 years ago (when we moved here) as sod... It's not very big, so it was a logical choice. However, as we were told later, when large patches of the grass virtually disappeared, it is very common for sod to have a particular insect in it that loves to eat it up (Lydia, we didn't buy the sod, the landscapers did, but I'm sure there's no way it could have been JB's.....and please, feel free to offer your wisdom for our backyard mess!). Between that, poor drainage, and much of the yard being in the shade - it just doesn't have a lot of hope. So, every year, at about this time, we have discussions on what we are going to do about it. Because, at this time every year, there's more mud, moss and weeds then there is real grass. And, thanks to a no longer functioning inground dog containment system, there's a few holes and some other stuff that happens when you have dogs....ick.

So, yesterday, given it would be the one non-rain day for about a week, I decided to intentionally scalp the yard with the lawn mower (Sara, it made me think of your neighbor!) - and thus dig up a bit of the moss that is dying off (I poisoned the moss this last weekend) - so that two bags of patch grass mix could -once again- be encouraged to take root and produce a yard that can be played upon again this summer.

It's actually about double the size of what you see here, but isn't it sad? The blue stuff is is the patch grass mix.... Don't you just pity it?
But, that's not the only "rough patch" the title is referring to. Thanks to that backyard effort and getting overheated when I was working out (I'm blaming it on the two gals I couldn't help but catch up with while working out, thus forgetting to blare the fan behind me and drink enough water....) - it was the perfect recipe for a very bad headache. I spent all afternoon trying to fall asleep in hopes that it would go away upon waking up. But, I never fell asleep (caught up on a lot of intercessory prayer, though!). Upon returning from Mikayla's third grade class concert (another post to come on that one), I immediately went to bed. I did end up falling asleep this time, but woke up with the pain much more intense....body shaking, nauseous....and my head encased in icepacks.

I know I did this to myself, but that didn't really matter in the middle of the night as I lay there feeling helpless and semi-panicked, knowing my mom couldn't just "fix me up" as she's currently in Hawaii. Let's just say that that "Pain Post" courtesy of Susan May Warren was really hitting home.

As evidenced by being upright enough to write this post - I did get better. I'm at about 85% now, with the help of being able to sleep more today, and getting a massage at Bello. The whole thing was compounded even more by the fact that tomorrow we leave for a cozy little family get-away to "our" Fairfield Inn (the place we stay anytime we head up to Portland) in Lake Oswego for three nights. John and Brayden will attend the Chris Tomlin concert tomorrow night (don't feel sorry for Mikayla and I, we get to go see "Wicked" together in exactly a week....so excited) - and then, Saturday night features the exchanging of wedding vows by our dear post-collegiate friends, John and Sarah. I'm SOOOOOO happy for them - I've been so delighted thinking about her and her expectations and anticipation blooming all this week. It takes me back 15 years thinking of that amazing day for us.

So, with all of this described, I'm DESPERATE to feel good for this highly anticipated weekend. (Hence the spendy massage). No more rough patches for me, please!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Okay - my advice as CFO of JB Instant Lawn - spend more money on your yard! Buy sod. As your very good friend, I'm so sorry for the frustrations. Really, shade and dogs sound like a really bad combination. Crane fly is probably the pest you are referring to, and you can get rid of them, but it is a process. We have some great new seed (and sod that matches) call Natural Knit Ryegrass. It's got the same great qualities of ryegrass, but it has a spreading tendency like a bentgrass. So, those holes you are referriing to would fill in over time, and not stay as holes like a traditional rye. There's also a dense shade seed blend that you should probably be overseeding with each year for your shade issues. If you can keep your lawn full it is more disease resistant. All the seed can be found at Home Depot, Lowes or Jerry's. Not very expensive and a good first try, but not immediate results. Good luck. Call me if you need more advice. You can look up the 800 number on our website and call me during work hours, and I can find someone that doesn't work in the finance department to help you even more. Love you and have a fun weekend.

Unknown said...

One more thing. Make sure your patch grass doesn't have any annual seed in it. It will make things green up real fast, but annual doesn't come back up next year (hence the name). Alot of big seed companies have started putting this in their mixes so people see faster results. Our seed blends are in the same price ranges, and contain great seed. We grow most of it, but the other parts are grown by other local Willamette Valley farmers and we really watch seed quality.

Tiffany said...

Oh no, Steph! So sorry about your "rough patch." Really hope you are feeling better by the weekend so you can enjoy your trip and the wedding:)

StephieAnne said...

Lydia, I'm going to cut and paste your comments and put them on a Word document and take it to Home Depot. If our yard unfolds into a lush and beautiful place of serenity...you will get all the credit!!!

Tiff- thanks for the support - I'm pretty close to being pain free this morning, so life is good. (I shortened your name, there, did you notice...and is that ok?) =)

sara said...

Grass problems can be the worst! We live on the side of a hill and so part of our yard slopes down at a pretty good degree...it is hard to keep grass growing there between the slope and the hard rains washing the dirt away. And shade never helps grass, although I know there are grasses that grow better in the shade. Good luck!

As for the headaches, I am praying that it will be completely gone by the end of today so that you can enjoy your weekend!!!

Jodi said...

Wicked on the 20th at 8pm? We should meet up at intermission. :)