Updates on progress from the black hole!

The weather "washed out" our plans for the yard last weekend, so I talked the hubs into a blitz through the black hole! In about an hour and a half we emptied 4 boxes, took 3 boxes of yard sale items to the building, started a 4th yard sale box, and took down to big bags of trash.  There was even a wide enough path to bring out the Dyson for a vacuum!
Here are the pics . .  refer back to the Feb. post to compare before and mid point (we aren't really at after yet)
This we we have a shortned spring break and so I am hoping to make some additional progress!

Humble tricks of the trade I have mastered

It is nice to wake up to a clean house on Sunday morning.  VERY VERY NICE, addictingly nice.  And I think I've figured out how to make that a weekly ritual of this karmic high.  Dinner guests on Saturday night!!  I like to cook, I like company so it's a win, win, win for me.  It also motivates the hubs to get more involved, which is like double bonus point score.  As a tag team (and excluding laundry and WALT's room, which I did Friday night) it took just over an hour to straighten, vacuum, mop and wipe down the rest of the house.  Then there is good food, good company and the unmatched feeling of a guilt free Sunday morning with my coffee and a good book (current reading is John Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany.")  Reading is another unexpected reward of a more functional home!
Yard work season begins in about 3 hours. Robert is weed eating right now, but that's his gig.  A new batch of lilies and irises go in the ground this afternoon.  Thus contributing to my goal of cutting down on the amount of weed eating by expanding my flower beds.  The mission is to completely cover the front "slope" outside the fence with perennials by the end of next summer, thus cutting about 200 square feet of yard work torture.  I have been keeping the cost down by excepting any and all freebies (the lilies and irises from today are mom's extras from a recent purchase) and buying the clearance flowers at Lowe's after they have bloomed for the season.  Right now it looks like about 90% is going to come back from last year so I am stoked!
Will try and take some pics of the progress today!
Now off to have that 3rd cup of coffee and a bit of guilt free reading!!