No rest for the hardworking

As I mentioned yesterday, Jeremy and I went to Oregon last week. We stayed with my mom for 4 days and she had an incredible list of things she wanted help with. She just moved in October and it takes awhile to get a house set up.

But perhaps more importantly, she had outside projects to do so she could start putting in her garden. Two things stood in her way. One, this gazebo:



and two, this line of tall arborvitae tree and a 6 foot high chain link fence:



My mom had started clipping the trees a bit, but that's all she had gotten to.

Jeremy got to work right away taking the shingles off the roof. (Hey! haven't we done this before??)


I clipped some more of the trees and got the first part of the fence down.


Jeremy got most of the roof off and I started dismantling the walls. (Surprise! There's a hot tub in there. A friend of my mom's is taking it away.)


Then Jeremy came over to help me with the tree project. Nothing like a little chainsaw action.


Then the roof came all the way off.


And the rest of the walls and most of everything else.


We finished taking down the trees and chopping them up. Jeremy also had to take down another tree in the front corner and a line of boxwood hedge next to the drive. All just to get that hot tub out of the yard! Actually, mostly because my mom doesn't want anything around that isn't bearing food or is shading garden areas.


We made an incredible pile of salvaged wood from the gazebo and wood from the trees (which she'll burn someday)


We also took down a big rickety grape arbor and I chopped up piles and piles of dead grape vines. We're pretty happy with all the work we were able to get done - especially because of the weather. It was supposed to rain the entire time, but I think it ended up only sprinkling a little bit.