Front and Back

I was talking with one of our neighbours recently and she confessed to me that while our house was up for sale, she regularly mentioned to her husband, "I hope people don't buy it in the winter."
We bought it in the winter.
Snow has many traits, one of which is to be able to hide the ground. When spring came and the snow melted, Rodney and I were left with a few surprises...namely, our front and back yards.
I'm not sure what can be said for our backyard. My mother often told me while I was growing up that if I didn't have anything nice to say I shouldn't say anything at all. It's true that I haven't always followed this piece of advice, and if I did this would be a very short post. One friend recently described it as a "shanytown" and another told us that "it looks like a third world country." Perhaps not politically correct, but there you have it.
Our back yard had several sheds on it. From what we can figure out, a shed was built and later another shed was built beside it. Later, another shed was built beside that one, and then connected to them both. At some point, a two-story purple playshed was built beside those. By "purple" I mean *purple.* There was a gate, but it wasn't leading anywhere, just hanging around. There was a fence, with barbed wire wrapped around the top. Nothing says "welcome, friends" like barbed wire. There is not a blade of grass, only a layer of peagravel. Treasures that we have found include a cement squirrel; a collection of soccer, bowling, tennis, and basket balls; a slew of bingo cards (sadly none were winners); several skipping ropes; a sword sheath; a compost heap that is a combination of yard waste and plastic; mould; and various bags of partially opened gravel and soil.
We recently had a work day in which we cleverly wooed some friends over with the promise of being able to destroy. And destroy they did....gone are the sheds and other "treasures" of the yard! We are now left with a large space; still no grass to be found, but a blank canvas for us to fill and play with as we will, as time and resources permit. It is an ongoing project to be sure, and so for that reason there are no "before and after" pictures, but already it is a *huge* improvement.
At the risk of sounding like a pessimist, I should mention our front yard. While the back yard was filled with less-than-pleasant surprises, our front yard has quite a bit more potential. True, we were surprised to find that again, there was not a single blade of grass in the front. Instead,the entire front yard had been turned into a garden. I have to admit that I don't know a thing about gardening. I don't know the difference between a weed and a flower, I don't know what leaves turn into what flowers, or if leaves will turn into flowers at all. I am a novice. Becuase of this, I will admit it is not the most beautiful garden on the block: it is rather overgrown since I am afraid to pull anything up that might turn into something pretty. Nevertheless, there have been quite a few beauties that have popped their heads up, with the promise of many more to come.