The Great Sod-On Project in Arroyo Seco is complete

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - It was a loooong four days, but that was all The Great Sod-On Project took from start to finish. That included going to buy the bricks and concrete, digging for the retaining areas, bringing in topsoil and Friday, picking up three big truckloads of sod and, finally getting it down on the ground.

Oh, and watering. Lots of watering.

And that was all accomplished with three or four guys working, depending on what others things were going on in the village.


The finished product

The transformation from dustbowl to green was so dramatic, people in the village stopped by the gate and peered in to ooooh and aaaah. The children are dying to come in and run around on the grass ... Maybe later, right now the priority is water, water, water while the sod puts down some roots.

We have the only grass area in the village. Our amigos Jim & Vicki (who live out on the beach) have some sod in place, too. In fact, it was their sod that gave us the idea to cover up the ground with grass. But we had about a square meter left over which we gave to neighbor Chon - who supervised the entire project. With Chon's talents with plants and all things flora, I suspect he will have a lush lawn at his house in no time.


Preparing for the sod


Loading up the sod

The piece de resistance was when Chon's son Danni arrived with a trailer loaded with water tanks. In a few minutes, the entire 2500 liters was splashed on, giving the sod a good start.

It's the absolute sodding truth - we are about to have grass

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - For the past three days, the Pink Flamingo property has been a swirl of dust and dirt as we prepare to put down the sod - the end result of what we have labeled the Great Sod-On Project.

Two dump trucks full of soil arrived last night and by mid-afternoon today, the two soon-to-be-sod areas were transformed into beautiful spots, ready the green grass of home. Or at least the green grass of Melaque, Mexico, where they grow the stuff.

The project was started just two days ago, with some quick sketching on the ground of where we wanted the sod to go and a lot of discussion with our neighbor Chon. Then Chon's workers arrived with shovels and rakes and other implements of destruction.

Tomorrow afternoon the actual sod will arrive and be put in place. At least that's what the sod dealer says.


Juliett on top of the topsoil


Rounding the curve



But while life has been ruled by sod and soil for a few days, we did have visitors one afternoon - Greg and Joni from El Tuito. They were in the area, picking up some plants at our local vivero and came by the take a tour of Arroyo Seco.

We did the beaches and town tour (with all four of us on the Honda quad) then had lunch in the palapa while the workers were on break - and while the dust was a little less. Greg brought along his collection of movies for us to borrow. Out of the many films he gave us, for some reason we opted last night to watch about 45 minutes of the classic Gone With The Wind.

I am not kidding. Who would make that up?

Now that I think about it, perhaps it was because April 1 is the anniversary of the day when the Admiral and I first met - 20 years ago.


Rhett and Scarlett

Greg also brought a new cable so Admiral Fox can easily connect her computer to her Earthquake speakers out in the palapa when she practices here violin, or just wants to have some music.

Joni, and our 7-year-old neighbor, Juliett gave the speakers a trial run. The speakers seemed to have passed the dance test for sure.