A battle against ivy

It's been a few days since the closing and it's only in brief moments where the realization sets in that I bought a house!

I spent the weekend clearing out the overgrowth of ivy and the three years worth of leaves that have built up along the house.

At first glance, those hedges on the right look full and lush. But that would be a lie. It was intertwined with ivy and suffocating underneath. 

There was about 1.5 feet of decaying leaves behind the hedges and thorny tendrils of ivy. 

As I reached my hand among the branches I kept praying that I wouldn't see a face of any creature staring back at me.

After many hours I cleared out all the crap.

All that's left now looks like a barren wasteland. But what is left are branches that are alive and have leaves on them. I'm hoping that they will actually bloom and come back to life.

I even cleared out the side yard of the evil ivy.

Since this area gets full sun, I think I can see some sunflowers planted there.

Here is the result of my hard work. Actually, that's not all of it. I need more bags. And a permit to get my yard waste picked up.

Oh, home ownership. We will have a bi-polar relationship.