Operation Garden Renovation is now WELL under way. So far we have cut down all of the bushes, torn down the shed and arbor, and had a big fire in the back garden to get rid of all of this wood.
This is where it starts to get a bit tough though, we now need to remove all the patio. Not an easy job, and we’ve decided the best way to get rid of it is to get a big skip. So on Friday, a big skip came, and Monkey helped me put some of the rubbish in, bless him he does like to help!
On Saturday my older brother came round and he and hubby set to the patio demolition. Unfortunately it wasn’t as easy as lifting the slabs and carried them round, as some of the slabs turned out to be much thicker than others and were far too harry for them to carry between them, or even to push in the wheel barrow.
As they themselves admit they aren’t the brawniest specimens of man so instead had to put their brains into action to come up with a solution. They found all that long gone scientific knowledge from school days about levers and pivots to be quite useful after all, and with what brute strength they had they found a way to smash up the slabs into more manageable pieces. Which basically involved, lifting on one end and resting it on a slab, then throwing another slab onto it in order to break it. Once they got the angles it right it was pretty effective!
The wheel barrow was still seriously heavy when full though so they adopted a turkey walk to put the weight into their knees rather than backs! Brains over brawn! 🙂
They managed to get 2 1/2 of the patio areas done before my brother had to go home for the day, but thankfully my younger brother was headed over the following day to give us a hand. Though we didn’t exactly tell him what he was in for, when he arrived we made sure he knew how much work our older brother had done and how much more we expected of him ;). His lovely girlfriend came round too and had a play with Monkey while the boys got to work.
Using the technique perfected the previous day they got the rest of the patios destroyed but there was too much to go in the skip, so they had to pile up a load of it ready for another skip we assume (Not sure we could take a trip to the tip with it weighing the car down!).
Then with the help of my brother’s lovely girlfriend we cleared a lot more of the foliage and she found one of the former occupants of the shed… shall we say it was a little bit crispy?! Yuk!
Everyone was shattered at the end of the weekend but there is still more to be done! This is how it looked at the end of the weekend and it feels like there is a long way to go yet!
We can’t wait to finish the clearance now and have some more relaxing weekends for a while!
Next week we are bringing in the big guns and hiring some machinery to remove tree stumps and all the plant roots!
It’s all go! We found frog skeletons in our shed as we emptied it out – Boo was fascinated. I’ve a tree surgeon coming in a couple of weeks, so making some progress here, too. It’s great, isn’t, but tiring?! X
It is all go, but yes, so tiring! I’m not surprised Boo was fascinated by the frog skeletons, i would have been, never even thought about frogs skeletons before! xx
I bet you can’t wait until your garden is done! Good progress! x
Thank you, I really can’t! xx
Getting that patio cleared is a huge step forward … and a lesson to everyone who thinks school lessons will never be of use in later life! Happy Spring Equinox and here’s looking forward to the longer days of Summer #HDYGG
Exactly haha! Thank you and Happy Spring Equinox to you too! xx
Crispy fried mouse anyone?
Serious respect for a hard job well done. I remember doing just that at a house I lived at many moons ago, such a killer on the back and it’s amazing how quickly the car gets weighed down with just a few slabs!
I think I’d need to be Project Manager on a job like this (that’s code for not knackering my back!)
Thanks for joining in and sharing, I’m loving following your gardens progress!
Lol! Oh yes I am very much project managing now, I help where I can but there’s no way my back or pelvis are strong enough for any of the really hard stuff! Thank you, hopefully we will be out of demolition mode soon and have some prettier pictures to share! 🙂 xx
Wow, you’re really cracking on aren’t you. That’s a big job you’ve got out of the way too. I don’t have a handy brother or two to help me in big jobs like that sadly, they have to wait until I can organise someone else to do it! We have an extended family of people with bad backs….
It’s really exciting you have such a blank canvas from which to work though 🙂
We are doing our best and honestly, our brothers have been amazing, they’ve put in so much effort, we’ve rewarded them with lots of food but think some other pressies might be in order too to show our gratitude! It is exciting, and just can’t wait for it to be finished now!! xx
You have been busy, supervising… It all looks like it’s coming along nicely, good job you have a team of blokes to help, they do have their uses. #hdygg
They do, I’ve helped where i can but someone has to take care of the inquisitive toddler and I’m afraid my back and SPD weakened pelvis can’t cope with the heavy stuff! Thank goodness for hubby and the brothers 🙂 xx
oh that looks like it was an awful job! we have a large poured concrete area at the back of the house (presumably meant to be a patio) and we’re going to have to remove it at some point… I’m not looking forward to that at all! x
Oh no! That is not going to be fun, yikes! Good luck with that, I fear you may need it! xx
Wow what a difference and good progress. We done this last year and know what hard work it is. Popping over from #HDYGG
Thank you, it really is hard but good to get it done! xx
Oh my goodness what hard work! I hope that you all had a nice cool drink after all of that!
Thank you, oh yes, and lots of creme egg brownies as a reward 🙂 xx
Looks like you are making great progress. All that help from Monkey is paying off xx
haha we wouldn’t be able to do it without him 😉 xx
oh wow!!! you have had your work cut out for you. lots done and so much to do still. but looking great! put those men to work…. 😉
Thank you, haha oh yes, they have been working so hard, still lots to do but we are definitely making progress now xx
now that looks like back braking work i hope there was cold beers all round afterwards
Oh yes and creme egg brownies 🙂 xx
It is such an exciting time, making your garden your own and just how you want it. I’ll look forward to seeing how it all goes #HDYGG
Thank you, hopefully we will make an improvement before too long, it will be lovely when it is how we want it to be 🙂 xx
I didn’t know how big this project is until I saw this post! Its massive. Its like I am a part of it cuz I can see your project unfold =)
#HDYGG
Aww thanks, it is nice to share it with everyone because, though I moan, we are proud of what we have achieved so far! 🙂 xx
Oh my goodness, I’m struggling to get past the crispy mouse 🙂 Looks like a busy and productive weekend! #HDYGG
haha I know, it’s a bit grim isn’t it? Very busy though! xx
Fantastic progress, loving seeing the changes each week, the final reveal will be exciting!
And OMG ewwwwww crispy critter!
Thank you! Haha I know, gross isn’t it 🙂 xx
I love a garden makeover and kept expecting to see Tommy Walsh pop up in your pictures. Can’t wait to see the next stage. Going to have nightmares about mummified rodents tonight now.
Haha I WISH we had Tommy Walsh to help! 🙂 Hope we didn’t give you too many nightmares! xx
Awww poor Mr Crispy Mouse hehe… Seeing your garden brings back the nightmare we had with ours 3 years ago :/ Previous owners must of just got a lorry load of concrete and it was EVERYWHERE… It took 10 skips to get rid of that, sheds and what looked like a raised 3x3metre flower bed, that was a dumping ground which had live frogs living in! lol… The things you find is just phenomenal! 🙂 I cant wait to see the end results.. Its all worth it. #HDYGG
Oh my goodness, sounds like a nightmare and way worse than ours – and ours has been bad enough! Thank you 🙂 xx
I remember this stage – it will all be worth it!
Thank you, hope so! xx
You’re so lucky to both have brothers (who live locally presumably!). I’m looking forward to pictures of the finished article but I suspect I might get a bit jealous:-)
Yep, everyone is very local so we are very lucky! haha believe me I am looking forward to seeing the finished result too! 🙂 xx
wow, so fantastic to see all your progress and you look very proud of yourself holding that old rat skeleton. It looks like it came out of a museum it’s so well preserved. I’m really looking forward to see next weeks developments.
Sorry I meant your brothers girlfriend looks very proud!
Haha no problem, It was an impressively well preserved skeleton! Fab, the new post will be out on Thurs 🙂 xx