The Yard

We've been feeling the pressure lately to start to make some progress on our "half-acre wooded lot" that we purchased along with our home. The previous owners, according to neighbor reports, liked to leave the yard "rough." So probably about half of the backyard was overgrown with bushes, small trees, poison ivy, and whatever else grows in that type of area. Our goal is to get rid of everything but the big trees and plant grass so that we can use the yard for playing. (and maybe eventually planting, but those of you who know me know it will be mostly playing)

So for a little jumpstart, Brian took advantage of some tree guys who were desperate for work in our neighborhood last week and in afternoon we went from this:

To THIS:

I feel like it doesn't look like much, but this took 4 men with chainsaws and a wood chipper FOUR HOURS to complete. Which means it would've taken my husband weeks and weeks. So we were thrilled.

Then Brian spent the entire Sunday working through the former wooded area and cleaning it out of leaves, sticks, and other interesting objects (a hose, a baseball, several flower pots), trying to get it down the the dirt. The results were this:

That pile of leaves stands about my hip height and covers the entire sidewalk and the grass on both sides. It extends the width of our yard. Plus there are 8 yard waste bags and one trash barrel full. AND the city already picked up a leaf pile that was probably 1/3 the size of this one.

And at our old house, we literally did not even own a rake. Didn't need one. But hopefully the fruits of our labor (well, Brian's labor) will be baseball and soccer games on our lawn for years to come.