We don’t know the meaning of rest. Or maybe it’s just me and I have the awesomest husband. I am a non-stop schemer, after all. Either way, we’ve been back at it. This three day holiday weekend (thanks MLK, Jr.) we exploded our yard.

Keep in mind this is it died back for the winter. Normally we can’t see any structures in this direction, excepting the play house.

By exploded, I mean we just brush-mowed it and tried to haul most of the junk out of the way. I think exploding it would have been easier. And quicker. Possibly cheaper. And then my lawn wouldn’t be covered in detritus that still needs dealing with. And all my joints wouldn’t ache, and I would have spent the weekend catching up on projects and playing Dungeon Defenders…

ANYWAY. Pictures have been requested, so here are pictures. We’ll start with some more before shots.

You can see ivy climbing on trees, choking groundcovers and some nandina in this shot. And the brush hog, of course!

Here’s what you were faced with trying to walk pretty much anywhere. Brambles and vines.

Another example shot.

We started in on the right (easy) side shortly after 8:30am. Here’s what we accomplished by 9am.

Ignore the privet still standing (center). We came back and chainsawed it later.

I don’t know how well photos can communicate the world of difference here.

Here you can see out two baby white oaks way down at the bottom of the yard. Now I can walk right up to them with ease!

A view probably not seen in many years: the house from the bottom of the yard, most of the way to the property line.

Then we started on the rest of the backyard, which could really be broken down into two sections, the left side and the Bremuda Triangle. Here’s Adam starting in on the left side.

Farewell, privet and rose of sharon! We’ll not be missing you.

The Bremuda Triangle is the center part of the yard. It is triangle-shaped due to gigantic fallen trees… let me try to explain: If you’re looking at a rectangle you’re imagining is the yard, draw a big V with the point at the bottom edge, the right arm extending all the way to the top of the rectangle, and the left arm extending more than half-way to the top. Now imagine the sloping topography of the rectangle – the front. left is the highest point, and the back left is the lowest point.

What does all this mean? Well, to get to the bulk of the triangle – the thickest, thorniest part of the yard – you have to go downhill and back uphill. Which isn’t really a big deal until you do it a couple dozen times, while hauling vines, saplings, and rotting logs. Or you’re rolling giant slices of rotten trunk up the slope. Or carrying most of a tree with two other people (our awesome neighbors Craig and Zoe helped us out, because they rock).

Long story short, this is the only pic I took during the first half of clearing the triangle (around 11am), because I was damn busy.

Then we had lunch at Goldberg’s (not too shabby, though I am still loyal by habit to the Bagel Palace). Then we decided we had better get started in the front yard, ‘cuz that’s what Criag and Zoe were here for after all. And we were tired of hauling logs.

But that’s enough yard explosion for one post – more on the front yard jazz in the next installment.