A Blank Slate

We had some work done our backyard this weekend... and it was the start of a lot of work that'll be going on back there... I suppose it'll be our "forever" project... because there's so much we'd like to do with it, but there's not enough money or time to get it all done in a few short weekends. We're happy we started on our backyard awhile ago, by clearing it... my hubby was pretty stoked about using a chainsaw... but after taking down most of the useless/dying trees, it was obvious that we would need the backyard graded... especially if we wanted to do some gardening as well as have some free space for the little ones to run around in.

We hired this amazing dirt removal man... by day, he grades lots/moves dirt... by night, he's an Oklahoma version of "Dog the Bounty Hunter"... I kid you not. When he showed up to start working in our yard at 9 am... he had just gotten off his shift as a bail bonds guy... and had brought in 3 delinquents that night alone. In the time that he was at our house, from 9-4:30, he received 9 calls to bring in more delinquents that night... crazy. Listening to his stories was fun... but even more so, he did a fantastic job at clearing out our backyard and leveling it off for us. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but this was probably some of the most difficult work that we needed the heavy machinery for... and the rest of the work, is somewhat doable for us. We have to figure out now whether or not we want to seed, plug or use sod (and what might be most affordable), bite the bullet on a sprinkler system, design Charlotte's play house that'll go right near that island of trees, create a half moon retaining wall by those trees, and of course... beautify the rest. By leveling off our lot for us, he pretty much created another half "yard" for us... so now this 1/2 acre feels a lot larger.

For now, it's fun to look out the window, and stare at a blank slate.... and yet, it's so intimidating...

Not only did this guy grade lots and move dirt by day, hunt bad guys by night, but he pretty much babysat Charlotte most of the day, by just being awesome to "watch"... and he let her ride with him for a few minutes towards the end... he's my Oklahoma superhero.