A couple of weeks ago I decided that it was time to clear out part of the jungle in our front yard. It's not that I don't like the jungle because I do like the privacy that it gives us and it also helps keep the cooling bill down in the summer. However despite all  the greenery, it just looks totally unkempt as you can tell from these photos taken last fall..

We have zero curb appeal and in fact, from Spring until Fall you can barely even see our house from the street.

There's not a whole lot we can do about the very front. There are more than a dozen huge pine trees there that would cost a fortune to have removed. Covering the ground in the midst of the pine isle are bushes, sticker-vines, poison oak, and who knows what else. Some Round Up might help, but I'm thinking gallons would be needed and who's got that kind of money? No me. And frankly, if I did I would rather spend it on a week at the beach than on killing weeds!

Here's a view looking from the house towards the street.

Another month or so of spring growth and you won't even be able to see the street.

As I said, I've been wanting to do a major cleanup for a couple of weeks but life, mother nature, and other commitments kept getting in the way.  This morning I finally said enough is enough, today is the day, no excuses. I even managed to browbeat convince my husband to jump on the band wagon and help out.

It's amazing what two people, a saw, some hedge clippers, and whole lot of determination can accomplish. Look! There's a house there and it even has windows!


There's still a whole lot of pine straw and frankly I'm not so sure what to do with it. We've tried before to grow grass here but have never had much luck. Not to mention, as long as we have those ding-dang pine trees there's always going to be pine straw falling



It always amazes me that people go out and pay good money for this stuff and I have a plethora of it falling down around me. It's pretty deep too. If we were to rake it all up into a pile I know it would be higher than the house. And no, honey, no matter what you say, we are NOT going to burn it. Remember last time? The Last Big Burn



Right now I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the view.



and I might consider all the possibilities of additional things to do.



It's spring break so I have free time to do some work. Of course there's also the scrapbooking that's calling my name. And, the walls on Ian's room are screaming to be painted. There's also the floor in the dining room that desperately needs to be fixed and since we can't afford to tile right now, the plan is remove the paint that's there (what were we thinking?) and hope for the best.

The big question is ..... what task should I tackle first? Which job(s) will be the easiest, take the less time, and cause fewer aching muscles and a sore back.... cause you know what, a couple of hours of yard work today and I am so sore I can barely move! We won't talk about old age and being out of shape. We're just going to pop a few tylenol, sit with a heating pad, and chalk it up to a job well done.