Groundbreaking

This was a very exciting weekend for us. Some of you will remember me mentioning "the mound" in front of our house. When we moved into the house there was a huge mound of dirt several feet high between the circle driveway and the street. This was a landscaping project three owners back. It was covered in more foliage than you can imagine. Some of the plants were junipers, which I am allergic to, so those came down immediately. Then there was a wisteria plant that was growing crazily that Gary attacked with the hedge trimmers. Then we decided that the crape myrtle trees were making it too difficult to see to get out of the driveway....and so eventually we decided to do away with it all. Then you might remember that some boys in the neighborhood set fire to it around Christmas time. Needless to say, this mound of dirt and weeds was a huge eyesore by then and we needed to do something about it.

(The mound before we moved in.)

(The mound as of Saturday morning.)

Gary had planned to take care of it a few weeks ago and then things didn't work out. He talked to a friend who could get us a tractor and the two of them began the process of tearing down and removing the dirt from "the mound". Soon it became apparent that the task was much larger than orignally thought. (Isn't everything usually that way?) Gary and I went to bed a little distraught as to how we would accomplish the rest of our project. I was mostly concerned with how many more weeks, months, etc. I might have to wait. (Hey, I am selfish, I admit it!)

(Gary and Zach tackle the job.)

We could not have been more delighted to hear our doorbell around 1pm today with an older gentleman offering to bring over a worker with a dump truck if we would let him have the dirt. We immediately agreed, and by 7 p.m. they were done. It was, indeed, a job that could only be accomplished with a dump truck, which we did not have, so it was truly a blessing that this man showed up. The dump truck actually took over three loads, and that was after Gary and his friend had made a huge load on trailers the day before. We had a LOT of dirt, people!!!!

(As I look out the front door, I am seeing some progress.)

So now we can finally see the road, the neighbors no longer have to look at our eyesore, and best of all we can make that area of our yard look good. I cannot tell you what a relief it is! We have been in this house close to a year now and to have this accomplished makes it feel that much more like our home.

(Finally, a clear view!)