Victorian War Zone

I know so many of you have asked to see more photos of the exterior of our home. But I've been a bit embarrassed to share, really. We've been living in a Victorian War Zone. Our shelter is quite nice, but the grounds look as though a bomb dropped.

What kind of masochist plants invasive English Ivy!? You may think it's fancy because it's "English", but it's not. It's horrific.

Oh you think you want romantic pink roses in your garden? How cute. Or perhaps French lavender with a candy tuft boarder? You need to just forget about it. Because IVY is the only star in this show. Until you show it who's BOSS.

The dumb ivy has even chocked out and half killed our 40ft maple tree next to the patio. So we had it taken down along with an old picket fence. Cookie, our kitty thought it was an awesome jungle!

Let the battle begin!......
We are on a corner lot and the dreaded ivy wraps around the ENTIRE thing. After spraying special herbicide, hubby and I peeled back the ivy as we cut the root system. It surprisingly came up in giant carpet-like mats!

Here is a photo after the leafy parts were removed. Still looks like crap.....

Thank GOD we have friends with awesome machinery! Otherwise this would have taken us weeks. Hubby's friend is ripping out the root system and making a trench for our new retaining wall.

Today our town had a garden tour of the most lovely back yard spaces you've ever seen. Folks walk through the historical district from home to home.
I'm sure you can imagine the delight on their faces when they all laid eyes upon our spectacular yard!...
It was actually quite comical to hear conversations through my cracked windows. Seemed everyone had an opinion of what we should and should not do. Some were excited and some thought we were just terrible for ripping out that lovely English Ivy. Those fools.

           Please just take a moment and imagine invasive ugly ivy everywhere there is dirt

                                                               ......EVERYWHERE.

My man's got skills. If I draw him a silly pencil sketch of a crazy dream I have. He brings it to life.
I usually get a few raised eyebrows served with a side of grief, but eventually he's almost as excited as I am!........Almost. Except Pete's excitement comes at the end, when the project is finished.

Doesn't it look like the chiseled stone of an old castle wall!? I just love it! Can you believe it came from Home Depot of all places!?
Below is the begining of the curved stair entrance to our future outside entertaining space. We will back fill the wall with gravel and soil when it's complete. Then......for the most important fun part! An entire boarder of fragrant French lavender!!!! Like literally, around the whole property. I adore lavender. It's beautiful, smells good, the honey bees love it, and it's super low maintenance.

It may not look amazing now, but it's going to be freaking awesome some day! I love thinking about how we are adding a feature to our home that will be here for many years to come....isn't that a fun thought?.....