One more down... so many more to go!

Yard work is never ending. There always seems more to be done than time in a year. Add big projects to weekly yard work and it is no wonder our grass has a tendency to get a little long! But today I finished another project and finally snapped some photos of everything I've been working on. Today was the park strip in front of the house. The "green waste" facility at our city dump has become my new best friend (and Joe's truck my new love). I have had such a blast hauling stuff around and completing some minor landscape projects on my own. As mush as I hate the never ending to-do list of yard work, there is great satisfaction in looking out your window and seeing the results of all your hard labor. Instant gratification. I love it. So here are some pics. I decided to include some before an afters as well.

BEFORE
So last year our yard looked like this. Lots of trenches waiting for me to back fill with sprinkler pipe and dirt.

Even after everything was laid and buried, I still found myself in an eternal battle against weed infestations and a sinking RV pad! Before shoveling 2.5 truckloads of dirt into the truck and hauling it to the dump, most all non-grass areas looked like this.



AFTER
To fix the RV pad situation, I built a little retaining wall and filled it with dirt and mulch. Those who know me well know that one of my favorite tools is a level (it goes with the whole annul retentiveness personality disorder). Anyway, each stone is leveled on the Y-axis and X-axis. I had a really great time (once I figured out the process) and was so satisfied to see the final result. Mind you, it isn't the Great Wall of China, but I am pleased.

Then I moved over the park strip in from of the house. Here again is the before...

And the after...

Next I need to create/prep flower beds--design the layout, dig out any over grown grass, and move lots of dirt and mulch. Good thing we have the truck! And then on to the backyard dirt pile. Like I said, never ending. Maybe I should make some time to hook up the sprinkler valves to the timer. My beeper is telling me it is time to manually change the water. Oh dear.