Sweat and blood and backyard blitzing

So probably not quite as dramatic as the title suggests...but last week we had some major backyard action going on. With Spring here and uni assignments due...I'll do anything to get out of schoolwork :P

(Excuse these pictures. I didnt take any 'before' shots, so had to sift through pictures from a long time ago, some are pre-DSLR. And really, I was so exhaustified that the after-shots were just a few quick clicks).

Our backyard isnt fantastic. Our grass is weird and gets bindis. One third of the lawn always gets mossy & muddy and so each year we dump gravel on it...just...because.

The back corner has always been scary. Like...scary. All covered in webs. I just know there's 10,000 Sydney Funnel Webs waiting in there to kill us. And who knows about the snakes. So anyways- we dont "go there".

This is what it looked like...

(Just look past the cute lil girl practising soccer to the tangled jungle behind her)

No one ever really ventured beyond where her feet are in the first shot.

The problem of ivy. See, some smart person 20 years ago decided to plant a little ivy. The person probably intended to keep it in check by not neglecting their garden. This ivy has become king of the jungle. It has crept along almost the entire driveway. Covered the fence. And strangled 4 trees. See the tree behind these leaves? Slowly being choked to death....

See the ivy just inching itself down the driveway...*shudder*. Oh, and dont forget to notice the mossy grass- it never gets any sunlight. I have many analogies for ivy & sin. But I wont get started!

The back fence. This photo doesnt show it clearly, but that falling-apart wooden fence at the back of the other falling-apart lattice fence, was getting dangerous.

So in went the shed a while ago. And finally last week we collaborated with our neighbours to put up the back fence. Yay. No more tetanus shots :). And rather than pull down the lattice fence, we spruced it up with a few nails and a coat of paint. The vegetable garden is still protected from little hands :)

We also had those poor ivy-choked trees lopped. Four of them. Four trees gone. Ooh, we have neighbours that I never knew existed!

But alas, this was the condition of the fence behind those four trees. See that patch of nothing at the base of the fence? That was where a car engine from 1976 was dumped. Fortunately Jack has friends with trucks....big towing trucks with chains and thingamabobs that can haul car engines away.

This is pretty bad.

And since I didnt take any photos of all the ivy pulling and fence building, or the numerous loads of green-waste, here are some photos of what ended up happening last week...

We now have a woodshed. This is the jungle corner! Do you see how much space we werent utilising? You cant see it because of the angle, but this is a good 3 metres deep! See that alleyway? Thats bigger than some Japanese bedrooms. And when I cleared out that alleyway It was BLOCKED. It was FULL of ivy trunks- they were massive. Time to break out the poison!



Ooooh, look at that nice new colourbond fence. And there is actually sunlight on the grass. My washing is drying about 4 hours earlier each day. And we probably can let the grass grow back rather than dumping gravel on it. Yahooo!

Previously, one third of this picture would've been 'jungle'

Look at that nice clean driveway. Someone must have worked really hard to make it so clean *meaningful stare*

And whats next? Well, we need a carport cover to go here....

And see the deck up the top?

The deck...the site of all our BBQs and hot tub fun?

Its getting axed. Thats right folks, 2 big new rooms are being built in the next 3 months or so.

But we're gonna get someone else to do that. Because Im still cleaning dirt out of my nostrils.

(well, actually its because our council is pretty strict and its just better to get a professional to do it. That way my buillding ignorance remains concealed, and Jack doesnt have to take time off work).

Spring has a way of making things happen.