I don’t need a wheelbarrow. I have a J!

Posted April 12th, 2008 by Mom |

My flower beds have needed mulch. My dad was nice to bring home his company truck so my mom could get her pine straw and mulch and so I could get some plants and 21 bags (57 liters each/2 square feet each!) of mulch. Thanks Daddy!!!

This morning around 10:30 my dad came over and C rode with him in the truck to the mulch store. I followed in my car with J. This way C could ride home with me and J could ride with Pop in the truck on the way home. After arriving home around 11:15, B and my dad unloaded the plants and bags of mulch. I had not yet had breakfast, so I quickly ate and fed the boys their lunch. B then got C ready for his t-ball practice while J and I went outside to begin spreading the mulch.

I quickly realized that spreading the mulch was going to be a physically exhausting adventure, as in past years. However, this time I wasn’t going to have B home to take the bags where I needed them since B was about to leave to take C to practice. I thought about using the wheelbarrow, but it has a flat tire. I also thought about using my parent’s 2 wheeler, but I didn’t want to go get it. All of a sudden, here comes J on his jeep. Problem solved?

J was a very willing, and enthusiastic helper. J brought the jeep over to the piles of bagged mulch and backed up to where I could easily lift a bag and place it on the back of the jeep. I then instructed J where to drive (backyard flower bed, front door flower bed, in front of C’s window or J’s window, etc.). J drove to exactly where I needed the bag and then stopped and waited for me to unload it and then went back to the driveway for another bag. I couldn’t have drug or pulled or lifted all of those bag and taken them where I needed them if it weren’t for J! He was a great helper.

Before spreading the mulch, I needed to dig out the trench in the front yard that separates the grass from the flower bed across the front of our house. The trench prevents grass from growing into the flowerbeds and keeps the yard looking nice. Over the last summer and winter, the trench has filled in quite a bit and just needed some maintenance. In addition, some of the dirt from the flowerbed had run off into the trench during heavy rains. I was able to use the dirt I dug out of the trench to build up the flowerbed around some of my bushes on the front row of the flowerbed. J was a willing helper in this task as well! Like I have said before, J loves dirt - especially if he is given encouragement to get dirty! He used a hand shovel and trowel and went to work on digging up the dirt and piling it around the plants.

After spreading the first 15 bags of mulch, I moved on to planting my new plants and then put mulch around them. After this tiring (but yard beautifying task) I then went to the back yard to finish with the mulch. While I was around back, B had already arrived home and put J in a warm bath - oh, my goodness, that kid was filthy!!! He obviously had lots of fun!! The back of his neck is sunburned to prove how long he was outside (so is the back of my neck and my shoulders from wearing a tank-top). I then came inside for a relaxing shower and nap.

Evening has come upon us. The mulch is spread. I’m physically hurting from the exertion, but very pleased with how the yard looks. Thanks again, Daddy for getting the mulch home for me. With B’s vehicle, it would have taken many trips to bring the plants and bags of mulch home. This saved us a lot of time.

I don’t have to think about the mulch again until the fall… woo hoo!