One of the first things we did outside, once we got settled inside, was remove all the clutter. The house still looked abandoned and it was abandoned no more!
For starters, there was an old fence and garden, outside the kitchen window. I’m sure in its prime it was beautiful, but not anymore. The garden was planted overlying the septic tank, yuck! I had ideas of moving the entry of the house to this side, so the fence came down
and the garden got mowed.
Zach had a blast pulling that fence down with the lawn tractor. 
An old, wire mesh fence ran near the north lot line and other than dividing our property from the next, it had no function, so down it came too.
The other area we wanted to clean up was also north of the house. We were a little hesitant to remove all the shrubs and trees, as it provided some barrier between our house and our neighbor, but it was so overgrown and along with the homemade arbor and falling down fence, it really was an eyesore.
Steve had a blast clearing this area out with a rented piece of equipment.
And then it was gone!
The tree, by the oil tank, is a magnolia tree and we are trying to save it. We have one in the front yard and the blooms are huge and so beautiful.
After a couple of weekends of cleaning up outside, it doesn’t look quite so abandoned anymore, does it?
A few questions I get: What is the tarp on the front of the house? That is to help reduce the heat of the sun as it moves around the front of the house in the afternoon. It does help.
What’s up with neighbor’s house, it’s so close to you? The couple that owned the house years ago, moved relatives close by to care for them as they aged. The couple has moved up the road, but the elderly relatives remain next door. Our plan is to buy the house/land when they move out and make it into a guest house.
