Landscaping, for lack of a better word, sucks.

Saturday is my semi-lazy day, I do projects around the place, but if a really good movie or sporting event is on TV, and its over 90 degrees, don't be surprised to find me in my favorite chair with my feet up. This delightful thought came crashing down around me this morning when I heard my wife fire up the tractor. Good heavens, I thought, what is she up to now. What she was doing was dumping horse manure compost into the planting bed in front of the house.

"Hun, whatcha doing?"
I want to plant some foundation shrubs and the soil is so hard that they keep dying.
"How are you going to mix the manure in with the soil?"
I don't know, how about the roto-tiller?
"I need to change the blades on it, if you want to use it."
Well, lets do it. Is it easy?
"No, that's why the new blades have been in the shipping box for two weeks"
"I'll help you" she said cheerfully.

So I hooked up a chain to the tiller and brought it in front of the shop.
I set it up on two work benches to get the blades high enough to change them without getting on the ground to do it. There are 32 blades, 16 right handed and 16 left handed. Each blade has two bolts holding it on, rusted bolts and nuts with damaged threads from spinning around in the dirt all their life.
Did I mention that this was not going to be easy?

Two hours, a half a can of WD-40 later and using a 2 foot breaker bar to break the nuts loose enough to use my air-ratchet, I had the old blades off.
My wife did help by cleaning up the threads on the bolts and she likes using the air-ratchet. I think its the sound it makes. ( Just kidding Hun )
New blades, check. Grease all the zerts, check. Fill the gear box with oil, check. Lets till some horse poop.

The tiller worked great, and after we finished we put down the weed barrier and put the rail road ties back around the edge.

Now we (my wife) will go to Home Depot to buy her shrubs as well as fountain grass and some perennials to plant on the mounds we made.

I am now sunburned, dirty, somewhat pungent, and tired.
My buddy called and wanted me to drive my Jeep up to deer camp with some of our friends tonight, but I am bushed.

When I get out of the shower, I am heading to my chair, for some quiet time with the History channel or SportCenter, or maybe nothing at all.

Man and beast beware, don't disturb fat guys when there are in their chairs, bad things can happen.

PS, I saw a t-shirt at the fair that made me smile it said;
"Fat people are harder to kidnap"