Well, I wasn't expecting to do THAT today - but I'm sure glad I did...

Remember my Backyard Dreaming post from a few months ago?  Well today was the first day in forever that the temperature was a reasonable 73 degrees and overcast.  So this morning, I got it in my head that I would spend about 20 minutes or so, and relocate those irises.

When I got out there though I noticed that some morning glories had taken over the patch where I had planned to put the irises.  So I started to remove them.  Then I discovered that these morning glories were strangling the rose bushes, so I kept going.  And then I was attacked several times by that damn blackberry bush.  Did you know that as pretty as morning glories are they can be considered invasive?

I didn't.  But I do now.  After I had pulled up all of them (I also now know I will be fighting these things forever now according to this link.) and the blackberry bush had attacked my hair and my arms for the millionth time, I knew it had to come out TODAY.  So I went and got my loppers.  As I was hacking away at the bush, Man-Child unwittingly wandered out and officially became my helper - whether he liked it or not.  We hacked away at that thing and then began to dig all the stumps and roots that we could...until we saw a baby black snake.

After that I was DONE.  I don't mind yard work, but I DO mind critters.  If we hadn't seen that snake, I feel sure I'd still be out there even now; hours later.

So even though the ONE thing I went out there to do didn't get done, I still feel a huge sense of accomplishment because the hardest part of this ongoing project is done, even though I know, like the morning glories, I will be fighting the remnants of this bush for a long, long time.  Every time I looked out there and saw that damn blackberry bush, I would become overwhelmed at the thought of tackling that part of the project.  Which is why my initial plan had been to start small.  But now that this piece of the puzzle is pretty much dealt with, the moving of the plants themselves will be a breeze.

And not only that?  The island looks SO.MUCH.BETTER now!  The transformation is absolutely amazing.

Man-Child also learned a thing or two about gardening.  As we removed another plant - no idea what it was but it was UGLY and the root ball was huge, he asked me, "Is that sea shells under there?"  No, they were bulbs.  I told him to pull all of them out because we don't want that ugly thing to come back.

Here is where I was going to do a Before and After shot, but it turns out that is one piece of the yard that I didn't take a photo of for the Backyard Dreaming post.  So instead you just get the After shot.

Ignore that ridiculous contraption holding the birdhouse.  That empty spot between
the butterfly bush and the birdhouse is where most of the blackberry bush was.

(The Husband has promised that the rest of the fence will be coming down soon.  He doesn't yet know that the ridiculous birdhouse is also coming down....)

Now I can see what we have; what we might need to fill a few gaps and my vision for what I want this backyard to look like is becoming clearer.  

So although, I'm exhausted after spending 2 and a half hours out there and am covered in scratches, I am one happy person.  

Am I surprised that it turned out this way?  No.  As much as I was dreading dealing with it, I knew I'd never purposely make the time to do it.  Like any onerous chore, I have to just take a tiny step in the direction I need to go and then tenacity takes over and it gets done.

Now I just have to get my friend over here to take the daylilies away on the left side of the yard.  Once those are gone, the other plants relocated, the rosebushes are trimmed then we can seed that area and then we will have a normal looking backyard and be able to turn our attention to other projects.