{Bricks} Clean Up

 A few years ago we were asked if we wanted a bunch of free bricks. Not knowing what we had planned for a few areas in our house, we agreed and ended up with a trailer full of bricks - some broken, some full. They all came from a job site of a family friend who is an architect. Long story short, they've sat in our driveway until we could get to them little by little. 

This summer, while bring pregnant and unable to help much with the construction part of Lily's room and the deck construction (we like to do a lot of stuff at once apparently), I couldn't take this view from my kitchen anymore. I do about 99% of the dishes and our sink is right in front of the window, making me look at this unsightly mess every day. While the guys were inside, I tackled it. I also had plans for some of the whole bricks.

So, here's the before shot of the brick pile. For a long time the bricks were in one giant pile in our driveway. I stacked them on the side of our driveway, allowing access to the whole length of it and for Doug to use our garage for storage. We now need a clear path because he bought a motorcycle that stays locked up in our garage. The garage is too small for either of our cars, so we park in the driveway. 

Anyway, this mess was just ugly and uncalled for. A tree growing in a pile? Grass growing rather successfully? Trash bags from other clean up days? We had it all and then some. So, with the help of 6 or 7 black trash bags and a lot of water, breaks, and music, I cleaned it up and organized the bricks into two piles - one for the whole bricks, one for broken pieces. 

Progress shot as I started organizing the bricks. It always gets worse before it gets better. The two 5 gallon buckets were for the large amounts of worms and useful dirt that were included in the piles. I eventually put all of the worms and dirt into the new flower bed in Lily's Garden. 

And here she is, all cleaned up and pretty. The buckets have since been removed after using the dirt and worms in Lily's Garden. Many of the full bricks have been used too, maybe 80 of them. There's still a ton left over to edge the rest of Lily's Garden and for the last two beds once we're ready to make them. The stack of hexagon pavers were once in our front yard, buried under our overgrown shrubs that will be removed soon to make way for a new concrete walkway. I'm thinking of painting all the stepping stones bright colors and putting numbers on them for hopscotch in Lily's play yard in our back yard. I'll keep you updated when the time comes for that one! 

You'll also notice (kind of at least) that the dog house is finally moved. It took my dad, cousin Pat, Doug and my uncle Sam to move it with the help of rollers from the driveway to our backyard. They had to lift it up over the back edge of Lily's Garden and wrestle into place on the other side of our steps to the basement. Eventually I'll show pictures of the back yard, right now it's a hot mess.