Ouch.

The backyard is clean and we are sore. The sheer amount of work we completed in one 10 hour period could have killed a horse. Ed, Cman and I all took to cleaning up, moving, taking down, raking, splitting, and burning the junk remnants that once filled the backyard. 

So, what did we do exactly that took 10 hours? The posts with electric that were installed (poorly I may add, but really? it's RHN. What would be right?) for the pool that was once existent, took down the plastic lattice from under the deck, cleaned up and burned a whole lot of rotted wood and tree limbs, raked about 3-5 years of leaves left for the next sucker, took out the blue stone stepping stones, took out the bazillion and one rocks from previous 'rock gardens', finished cutting up the giant fallen tree, mowed the front lawn, raked the side path, and last but not least raveled in the beauty of an actual back yard while drinking a Brooklyn Ale. Like a fantastic (not so much) blogger that I am, I forgot to take 'during' pictures, but seriously, it was all chaos - like a bomb went off; we even had a fire going to give it all a life like war zone feel. 

BEFORE

AFTER

Next on our list we aren't sure if we are going to begin the re-decking process or rent a mini-excavator and stump grinder to grade and level out (and bury that unwanted 3/4 stone gravel) the yard. We HAVE to get rid of the railroad ties and that will be a challenge. We have, however, come up with a plan of sorts of what we want to do in the yard. In the back right corner we are going to build a fire pit area much like this: 

pinterest.com

Isn't it beyond fabulous?! Yes, we are thinking of planting tall-ish bamboo along the back fence for pretty much two reasons: 1) to hide the 'dumping grounds' that have become the back woods 2) Privacy from the Toll Brothers community of McMansions they're building behind us.  

The deck we are hoping to look something like so:

CAD on Lowes.com

We would eventually like to have a fully as-level-as-a-slightly-sloping-yard-can-be level yard with lush green grass - NOT dirt, 3/4 stone and sand!, a nice stepping stone pathway from the side to back yard, a re-decked deck, a re-roofed and painted/fixed up good as new shed and trimmed back trees (ours and the encroaching neighbors) and the trash heap has spoken old fire pit needs to say hasta la bye-bye.

The front of the hizzy is looking like she got a face lift as well:

We have plans for the front, too. Trees and bushes are coming down, bare patches grassied up, gardens mulched... It needs an update bad and we know it. We have our sites set on about 1-2 years on new front steps and walkway, and 3-5 years out on new siding and a roof, but for now we need it to not be a friggin' eye sore. I have to say though that it is quite rewarding to see progress after the soreness my body is feeling. Getting old sucks. No longer can we pull the all-nighters and all day hard labor without feeling major consequence. Ah well, we will be back once we decide what we want to conquer next.