Backyard Project, Day Two...

...or Day Three, depending on how you are counting. I, for instance, am counting days that work is actually done in my yard. The weekend, when they aren't coming out, doesn't count. Neither does yesterday, when we had a load of gravel delivered, but no workers were here. Hence, day Two.

Today's efforts leave me scratching my head. I'm sure there is a method to the madness, and they have tried to explain it to me, but I'm still not quite sure I know what is going on. They started by digging some accessory-type trenches that extend out from the main ditch. They filled all of them with gravel, and then covered them back up, except for the main trench. She tells me they will leave that uncovered for the time being, until the yard is pretty dried out.
Above is a shot of the yard after they had done all of the digging, filling and re-covering.
Muddy, huh?

Here you can kind of see the gravel in the main ditch. I noticed this afternoon that the little piles of dirt on the side have dry spots on them!

The tractor was in mud up to the middle of the back wheels, but never got stuck. That is good, because if they had gotten it stuck, I have no clue how they would have gotten it out before July.

Here is another shot of the main ditch, along with the goo-pit that makes up the rest of the yard.

After they finished re-covering everything they wanted to, they began pushing piles of mud over to the right side of the yard. This is the part I am unsure of. We now have an approximately 2 foot deep mud pile over on that side, which the landscaper tells me should dry out some over the weekend and then they will be able to move it better. Since this is a pretty large, pretty wet mudpile, I have my doubts if it will be moveable by a mere two days from now. Especially since they didn't really leave a clear channel for the water to drain into. Right now, there are numerous puddles that are just kind of hanging out, waiting on Spring.

You can't truly get an idea of the size of the mudpile from the photos, but trust me, it is large.

As a side note, the neighbor's daughter has been popping over and talking to our landscaper. On Wednesday, she mentioned that her parents were upset with us for going ahead with the project after we told them we would hold off. Today, she was just kind of wondering if THEY COULD HAVE SOME OF OUR DIRT. I'm thinking, yep, sure, for about $10 per pound. Maybe more. She said the landscapers could just move some over by their driveway, on the grass by their ditch. You remember, the ditch that they so kindly wouldn't let us dig into to try and improve our drainage situation. It all sounds like a fantastic idea to me. Phil and I were kind of wondering exactly what they were going to do with it after it was moved over to their yard, since neither of them get around very well. I said they would probably show up on our doorstep asking if Phil would help them spread it in their yard. I am constantly amazed by people. Also, this same daughter was outside in the driveway with her dog (unleashed) one of the times I had to take Cooper out to go potty (leashed). Of course, here comes the dog, barking and acting crazy and trying to get Coop all stirred up. She had to come over and get her dog and put it in the car, where it proceeded to bark and carry on to the point that I just had to take Cooper back in before he had had a chance to do any business, because he had lost all focus. I thought about telling that lady that it was for this exact reason: that we have to take our dog out on a leash in the front yard to pee, that we are trying to fix our backyard. He is a massive puppy who can't run around and burn energy because our yard is a cesspool for 6 months out of the year, at least, and could she please try to explain that to her parents? Thanks so much. Thanks for understanding. Also, note the two children under the age of five who can't enjoy their big backyard either, including the very nice swingset, which their parents so lovingly located on the other side of the cesspool (right next to the tree with all the poison ivy.) Wait, maybe don't mention that part.

So, anyway, no action over the weekend, but hopefully some drying out will happen. I am sadly enjoying my last evening of vacation before I head back to the old grind tomorrow night. Happily, it is only one night and then I am off again for a couple of days. We'll get back in a routine soon--just in time for Amy to change schools. She will start attending Full-Time Daycare on February 2nd. The school we like had a spot now, and we were too afraid to gamble on them having a spot come August. BAD things happen when we gamble.