The japanese maple in the front yard is in trouble. This mold or mushroom is developing on one branch. The tree is holding well so far, and the leaves were normal, but I did notice the first leaves to fall were the ones from this branch. Am not sure what it is and what to do, although I believe I saw the water jet from one sprinkler hit this trunk directly.

Reprogrammed the garage door opener

That was a pain... but it's done. Instructions here.

Aerated, fertilized, overseeded

Monday 9/28 evening I aerated the lawn using the tow-behind core aerator. Worked ok, not great. I think the plugs were roughly 1 inch+, in a few areas, 2 inches. I should use more weight, and/or wait for more rain before I do it next time.
Fertilized on tuesday 9/29th, with Scotts starter fertilizer. Used a bit less than recommended, as a big bag is supposed to cover 14,000 sq ft., and I only used 90% of 1.
Overseeded with Pennington's smartseed bluegrass & fescue mix. Again, used a bit less than recommended, used 2 bags, which are supposed to cover 10,000 sq ft.
Let's see what this gives in 2 weeks.

Soil test for the backyard

Took a few samples using the new Fiskars core aerator. The PH reading is between 6.0 and 6.5, and tall fescues like 6.0 to 7.0 PH. Kentucky Blue likes 6.0 to 7.5. So I guess I do not need to lime for now.

Here's a link to the test kit I used, the "Luster Leaf" soil kit.

Below is a picture of the result.

The Potassium, Phosporus and Nitrogen levels. Seems to say surplus of Potassium, depleted Nitrogen, and adequate or low Phosphorus.

ID this small tree

I am trying to identify this small tree (probably 4 feet tall). Photographs taken early September in Massachusetts... Cheers!

Radon

So we inspected the house, and it turns out it has radon. Radon is a gas present outside, in the air we breath everyday, and innofensive unless breathed at higher concentrations. It then causes lung cancer. See the EPA page for more info on it.

Well our concentration reading was 4.4 pCi/l, just above the EPA "action level" of 4. So we're installing a mitigation system. The Radon Guys came to the house, drilled a couple of holes in the basement to check if they were getting enough suction, and drew a map of the mitigation system they propose.

The mitigation will suck air from under the basement, using three holes in the concrete basement floor, and bring it up (through an external pipe) to 12 inches above the roof line. The pump is set outside the house, and makes less noise than a refrigerator. The whole system is maintenance free, and the pump typically lasts 8 to 10 years.

The bottom line: $1,400. Comes with a warranty - if the system doesn't bring the reading to below 2, they'll come and fix / improve it for free.