A Visible Backyard

One of the most exciting things about moving to a house from a condo is that we'll have a yard. Although I'm excited to have a space for outdoor entertaining and that kind of thing, my immediate focus is on having a yard for Smokey to run around in. We take him out for walks several times a day and on various "adventures" (he knows that word - don't say it around him unless you want to activate the puppy cyclone!), but it's so rare that he actually just gets to chill outside. On his lazier walks, the poor little guy always tries to plop down in the grass to sunbathe and avoid coming back in, but I'm always in a rush get back to work or whatever I'm doing. No question, he's going to LOVE having a yard and not being so leash-dependent.

But before we can Smokey let loose on his own, we need a fence. And before we can get a fence, we need to make way for the fence. You might remember that our backyard was previously in jungle status - as in, not possible to see more than a few feet into it. This past weekend, we started trying to fix that (which you may have known already if you follow me on facebook or Instagram).


First, let's take a look at some more before pics. Now don't get me wrong - I love nature. I thoroughly appreciate this beautiful, green loveliness, and would happily trek through a lush forest like this on a hike. But for a (smallish) backyard? Not so much. If we had a few acres, some wild space like this would be great, but with a half acre (and much of that in the front yard), we want our full backyard to be usable space.

Last Saturday, my father-in-law came over to start helping us tame this beast - armed with a pickup truck, a chainsaw, an axe, and a selection of loppers/clippers (since our own selection of outdoor tools is currently nonexistent).

I knew this wasn't exactly a one-day project, so my expectations for how much we'd be able to accomplish were pretty low. But the difference is pretty impressive, isn't it?! We still have plenty more to do (like getting rid of those giant fallen trees and taking the rest of those brush piles to the dump, for example), but you can actually see into the yard now!

A few things I learned during this process:

1. The bugs at our house like me, and only me. No lie - I got at least 60 bug bites. Next time, I will remember buy spray!
2. I like watching my hubby play lumberjack. Who knew that man could wield an axe so well?
3. Our county dump gives out free mulch! Not that we needed it yet, but that will definitely come in handy. Is that common - do you know if your county gives mulch away for free?

Yard work is a new thing for us, and we were definitely feeling it the next day! Have you done any big projects in your yard lately?