Rev. Erudite Redneck, B.S., B.S., M.A., M.Div.

Not that I forgot -- but WOW, it makes a difference when you don't sit at a computer all day! I'm used to being a few keyboard strokes away from unloading whatever feeble opinion, random brain fart or question that occurs to me.

The past 10 days, though, I've been not only not at a computer, but not even indoors for most of every day. And I am universally sore. Every muscle. The good kind of sore, though -- no serious strains or anything.

I think I managed to do everything I meant to do to get the ER house in shape to put on the market -- although more remains to be done. New fence or not? New carpet or not?

And the more I get done, the easier it is to see smaller things that remain, like another, very slight crack around our master bedroom windows, like indoor doorknobs that need replaced, like outdoor light fixtures that also need replaced, because they're weatherworn.

Here's how I spent Part 2 of my summer vacation (Part 1):

Carried even more topsoil, one 40-pound at a time, into the back yard. The total is over 150 bags now.

Hand tilled topsoil into bare patches.

Fertilized and seeded bermudagrass in sunny spots.

Grubbed out weeds and old, worn-out bushes and junk from under the big maple out by the back fence.

Fertilized and seeded annual ryegrass in the shady spot under the maple tree.

Borrowed a neighbor's wheelbarrow and hauled 14 loads of gravel -- two, 1,700-pound pickup loads -- into the back, to spread under a shed that I will advertise as "an outdoor living area partially equipped for a wet bar" (it has running water).

Painstakingly used a hammer and large awl to remove about 100 steeples from railroad ties that are the box for what was my raised vegetable garden, said steeples used to tack down the wire, then removed and rolled up the wire.

Pulled up 15 T-posts from the garden fence. Thought about spending $50 for a fencepost puller at the Tractor Supply, but decided I'd rather spend that money on cigars -- so I did, and pulled those puppies up by hand.

Another 20 bags of topsoil to the front sideyard, tilled it, fertilized it and seeded annual ryegrass.

Filled in remaining bare spots in the main front yard from where heavy rains washed out some of the bermudagrass I'd previously seeded.

Hauled just one truckload of stuff to the local landfill transfer station.

Meanwhile, Bird and YankeeBeautrothed worked a total of seven days (four for him, three for her, scraping, priming and repainting the pergola (I call it an arbor; it's like this one only twice as big)over the back patio. What a chore! It has 22 2-by-6's, about 20 feet long each, plus several crossbeams and six columns.

Bird also scrubbed the front bathroom, top to bottom and side to side, and scrubbed the front porch and entry, and she helped Dr. ER with some stuff, and got a good start at emptying her old room, and Bird and YB both grubbed out about five years worth of dead matter and trimmed the pampas grass in front.

Now, Dr. ER is back in Boulder. Bird is here until this weekend; YB goes to Houston and back for dental work -- and I am actually glad to be back at work, where I can get some rest.

--ER