Sweat Equity

I love watching the leaves fall and cover the ground with their multi-colored beauty (yes, even in Texas...yes, it's mostly brown). What I don't love is raking leaves but rather sweeping...sweeping them directly into my slip of a backyard and letting them pile up.

I decided it was time to do some cleaning. My backyard was looking rough (at least to me as compared to when I moved in). I wanted to clean up the old mulch and dead leaves, weed and re-mulch, trim the grass plants and the trees. Finally the day arrived a week ago that I rallied myself with a great pep talk and got myself into the yard.

I had bought a small rake at Target just for the occasion and finally opened my new work gloves.

Look how scraggly and raggedy this looks!

The ugly decomposing leaves are taking away from my pretty patio.

Don't cover my tree!

After I cleaned up the old mulch and dead leaves I moved on to weeding. I hate weeding. Your knees hurt, your back hurts, sweat drips in your eyes and bugs crawl all over. But I did it!

Look at my fantastic work gloves...like a boss.

This ugly thing is ready for its close up.

 I finished half the work the Friday before Labor Day and enjoyed the weekend in Austin so fast-forward to the first Sunday of 2012 NFL and I called in the big guns...my dad!

This ended up being one of the more fun things that got done. I grasped the base of the plant and pulled my hand up to the height I wanted and *snip*!

I was tired of scraping my gate against this limb.

Look at the progress!!! I had to stop once in awhile just to admire it because this wasn't a DIY show that was capturing my hours of labor into a cute, 30-minute short. I did this!

Hello, gorgeous! Yeah, ya didn't know there was a downspout there, did ya? Surprise!

My dad counted out my mulch requirements and we hopped in the car and headed to Lowe's. He's a fan of Pine Bark Mulch due to its size and good decomposition so I went with the master and bought 7 bags for my back patio and front yard.

Look at Jack go! I'd still like to own my truck, thank you...

Mulching is actually far easier than expected and definitely more fun. I put my gloves back on and followed behind my dad as he emptied each bag, smoothing out the mulch. Dark, rich and beautiful it immediately transformed my patio back to its original beauty when I first moved in.

Tada! I think it looks phenomenal and feels so much cleaner.

I can see the plants, they look well kept and with the obtrusive limbs gone, the patio can breathe again!

I like my mulch to be a highlight to the growth above it.

A mighty big thanks to my Popsicle for helping out and making a big difference with both my knowledge growth and the healthy growth of my back yard!

My dad is the best! After we wrapped all this up, we went to Ace Hardware. We walked in and a very cute puppy in a very cute shirt was caged and waiting for a brand new owner so when my dad asked, "What do we need?" I said, "I need a puppy."

I don't. I'm really not ready to be a mother. I like being lazy and I like being carefree after work. All in due time...

We wandered the store picking up a few gardening essentials (the three-pronged piece that I always called a trowel incorrectly and a small shovel) as well as a hose nozzle so I can make myself start to water my back and front yard! Oh, and my new aloe vera plant that my parents gave me. Thankfully, it doesn't require much watering or I'd be screwed.

I am very grateful for his help and even more so for my new again back patio. It was very satisfying and I look forward to doing a better job of maintaining it all!

Now, what shall I do next...