DIY Lessons

I'm sure I have mentioned more than a few times the nature of the nature in our yard. I am happy to report that, with the exception of some minor landscaping details, all our hard work is paying off (this is assuming that the sod we planted actually takes - but this is Oregon, most everything does).

The pictures below give you a good idea of what we were dealing with when we started last year:




And from the front...


The list of shrubbery, trees, foliage, cement and whatnot that we have removed reads a lot like the 12 Days of Christmas (except that you probably wouldn't want any of these items as gifts): 12 dry and crusted bushes, 11 loads of concrete, 10 drug related items, 9 posts of fencing, 8 ivy bushes, 7 railroad ties, 6 square feet of decking, 5 metal posts with concrete, 4 tall evergreens, 3 rubber tires, 2 plastic pools, and one overgrown birdhouse. We had to rent 4 of the yellow bins you see above (one of which was double the size of the one above), and we still have enough debris to warrant another. Looking at the pictures above makes me feel feel a mixture of pride and insanity. I'm just surprised that all the rock moving I have done hasn't sent me into premature labor.






A Couple of Lessons Learned:

1 - Never buy a house in the jungle.

2 - Make sure you have a good health insurance policy.

3 - Don't send an over eager husband up on a ladder to start cutting willy nilly at all the foliage on the side of your house BEFORE checking for electrical wires.

4 - A wheelbarrow is worth every penny you might spend.

5 - Plan ahead so you only do each job once, like tilling a rock garden in preparation for planting sod.

6 - Go to school, get an education, work hard, and PAY someone else to do everything we have done.