Project: Excavate: Complete

Meet our Excavator Extraordinaire: Joe.

He is the man.

We proudly announce that step one is complete. Sayonara nasty ivy (which housed a variety of items, unbeknownst to us: a futon frame, toy trucks, countless balls, tires, a nest of rats *barf*, bottles, trash), and dead neglected everything else. Hello cleared space, freshly graded ground, terraced sections waiting for some love. I know these pictures don't really do much justice for the amount of work that went into this. I also recognize that the pictures hardly display anything pretty, but all in due time, my friends! It's gotta get worse so that it can get better, right?!

Prep your oohs and ahs...and feast your eyes on THISSSSSSS:

Here's looking from our back patio to the back edge of our property:

BEFORE

AFTER

This is the crazy dead Siberian Elm that we fell several months back that took had at least a 40-ft diameter canopy, taking up the majority of any sun exposure:

DURING

This was the aftermath of the fallen tree:

This was after finally clearing all the tree remains out:

AFTER

Here's a similar panoramic view post-excavation.

BEFORE

AFTER (from neighbor's yard)

FRONT YARD BEFORE:

FRONT YARD AFTER: