Friday night, Shaun picked up a U-Haul trailor and brought up 900 sq. ft. of sod. Once we got it to the house, Billie and I, after adjusting the sprinkler heights, emptied the entire load of sod and piled it next to the house so it would be in the shade most of the next day.
We were pretty tired after that. The next morning, I went out there at about 8:00am and started (trying) to break up some of the hard-packed earth so we could work on leveling the ground.
Also, as you can see from the muddy area toward the back, I also had a couple of leaks to fix. It seems that there were two 1/2 inch lines going through that area and the previous weekend, while trenching, unbeknownst to me I had trenched right through both of them in two separate spots. So, another thing I did early Saturday morning was make a trip to Ace Hardware and then repair the lines.
I also spent some time capping off some of the drip lines that were installed for plants and bushes which no longer existed. In the end, about six drip lines needed to be clipped and capped.
Next, when Shaun and Bob were there, we started working on leveling the ground. With all the rock and hard-packed clay back there, this was not easy. In fact, this ended up taking us well into the afternoon.
Bob was helping to plan out how we were going to try to get the ground smoothed out and leveled. Around mid-morning, as you can see in the back, we made another Home Depot trip to rent a roto-tiller to help break up some of the dirt.
Finally, the ground was leveled and smoothed (to the degree we could do so while still having enough time to lay the sod) and so we put the grass down. Al did a great job cutting the edges and around the sprinklers. I doubt we would have gotten this done without him.
As you can see, it's a bit patchworkish (haven't made up a new word in a while, so there you go), but it should start to get a nice, solid green color and the lines should start to disappear in the next couple weeks.
Another shot of our patchwork quilt. The yard looks so totally different. Once we get some cleanup done, this will be a nice looking yard!
Now, how often do you sod 900 sq. ft. of yard and have just a small pile of scrap sod left? Can I order the right amount, or what! Now, if I could have been as accurate with the PVC, the 1/2" couplings, and a few other items, we could have saved making about six trips to Home Depot and, I think, three to Ace. 
What would a Carrington blog be without a picture of Kyle? Here he is, checking out the new lawn! I think he likes it!
So, two weekends and a good deal of ibuprofen later, we have made it through Phase 1...clearing the rock, trenching, installing plumbing and sprinkler heads. Made it through Phase 2...getting the curbing, getting the sod, leveling the ground and installing the sod. Now, we're about to enter Phase 3...clean up.
I don't mind telling you that this is not particularly my favorite part. After all, now that the grass is in place and the watering programs are done I just want the project to be over and enjoy it. However, we have excess dirt, rock, etc to still deal with and get rid of and it'll be a process of getting rid of what I can each week in the weekly trash pickup. As you might imagine, that process may take longer than I'd like it to.
Plus, I still have some tree trimming to do, some large rocks to deal with and a few other smaller jobs still to do back there.
For now, just a quick "Thank you, thank you, thank you" to Billie, Shaun, Bob and especially Al! If I had to do this all myself, it would have taken me all summer and would have looked awful. So thanks to them for all their help!
TTFN!
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