Dirty Work

If you have read my profile (to the right), you know that I live in a Boxwood Jungle. If you have visited my house, you really know that I live in a Boxwood Jungle. Not an exaggeration. We have hundreds (yes, hundreds) of large English Boxwoods in our yard. They are beautiful, but they are not for us. Our kids need grass to run in and I need to not be surrounded by spiders every time I walk down the sidewalk.

We have given away lots to family members. I sold 15 on craigslist. We tried living with them. In the end (which turned out to be today), they were piled next to the street to await yard-waste pick-up day. Dave and I are painfully aware how valuable and beautiful these plants are. But we desperately need a place to play tee-ball and run around and have a picnic. So the plants had to go. And if any of you leave a comment about how you wish you had known that we had so many boxwoods to share, because you would have loved to have some, I will hit you over the head with this blog.

Here is somewhat of a before photo of the sidewalk from the front door to the driveway:




I say somewhat of a before photo because Dave and I did a lot of clearing out before today, so the actual before photo was even more dramatically filled with plants.

Everyone worked really hard today...







Somehow the photos of the dirty, sweaty adults are not as charming. We'll leave those out.

Here is a breakdown of what the day consisted of:

• 1 toad
• 1 wooly worm
• 1 snake (which became two after being accidentally chopped in half)
• 1 sprained wrist
• 2 buckets of KFC
• 1 bazillion yellow jackets
• 5 bazillion boxwoods
• 3 filthy kids
• 2 generous grandparents
• 2 exhausted but eternally grateful parents

And finally, one yard with tee-ball potential...

We obviously have a lot to do to make the yard what we want it to be, but at least we're on our way!