I've been a very bad blogger and haven't updated the blog in awhile. But that was only because we have been so busy and hard at work. The most obvious illustration of our efforts is the backyard. It has made a drastic change from overgrown and slightly jungle-y to sleek and clean. Ok, maybe not that sleek and clean yet (because all the cutting and trimming left a lot of newly exposed brown spots) but it will be once all our efforts reach fruition. Unfortunately, I don't have good comparison before pictures, but here are some pictures that might give you an idea of our progress.

Our backyard before purchase of the house:


A mid-way picture from the early spring with some cleanup.


And now...
Did you notice the sudden lack of gigantic bushes between the trees? How about the fact that our yard now looks twice as big?

We also did some trimming up around the house.

No more tree branches growing in front of the guest bedroom windows. And no more 6 foot high bush with razor sharp leaves. We, of course, plan to plant new, better plant life around the patio. But for now, I'm just enjoying the pristine lack of overgrown plant life.

Oh, yeah. And here is Riley helping us with yard work.

She is very adept at helping us clean up the empty bags of top soil.


Well, I hope you enjoyed this update. I'll try to do better this coming holiday weekend.