Blog #18 Landscaping

Hey Welcome to Blog number 18, so crazy how quickly I have gotten here. The past couple of weeks I have talked a little about some landscaping work I have been doing so here we go.

My new roommate is a landscaper by trade, he is employed by a project manager and works across multiple jobs at once. A lot of the work involves doing large yard renovations for wealthy clients. Removing & installing pools, fencing, grass, tiles, patios, you name it.

Pretty shortly after moving in, he asked if I would like to come to site and earn some cash for a days work. I had never done anything like this before but the idea of some extra cash and new experiences were enough to get me to go out.

I have never seen myself as someone who would do that type of work or someone who would enjoy it. I have been out maybe 5 times now and I really enjoy it. I’m now doing 1-2 days a week depending on my availability. The work is great, it starts early which feels really good and means we are done by the afternoon. I also really enjoy how task-based it is. All I have to worry about is digging the hole in front of me or moving the pavers. It really is satisfying watching a backyard transform over the course of a few hours.

It is some hard yacker though, there have been a couple of days now where I have come home dirty, tired & sore. In a strange sense though it also leaves me feeling amazing. Getting up and out the house quickly and early is an amazing feeling, getting my sweat on always leaves me feeling good and I’m also just really proud and surprised by myself.

Me after some "Hard Yacka"

Seeing myself show up and work hard at something I never imagined myself doing has been really beneficial for my mental health and truly reinforced the idea that you never know where you will end up. I’m so excited to see what happens next and I’m doing my best to have no expectations.

I’m really grateful for this awesome opportunity to learn more skills and make more money. I had gotten my RSA in order to bar tend over the summer but I might not need to anymore. With the extra cash I’m now making I think I can just keep at it and I should be able to meet my savings goals.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this and I hope you use this as motivation to expect the unexpected, it comes out of nowhere.