Our new retaining wall & garden plot!

We (and by "we" I mostly mean Super Uncle) have been busy all summer with home improvement projects and the outside of our house especially is starting to look so nice. The leaning tower of Pisa, also known as our retaining wall, had fallen so far in the past two years that it had broken one of the outside outlets and was threatening to block the entrance to our basement.

I don't seem to have a good "before" photo of the wall, but you can see the lean in this photo. Now picture the wall being 3 to 4 railroad ties higher than that. It was a disaster just waiting to happen and not good at all for resale.

With a little - and I do mean little - help from the hubby and a bit of interference from the kids, Super Uncle tore the wall down, then rebuilt it in a design that would withstand a bit more pressure from the mountain above.

The mister planted some little shrubs at the bottom, chives and rosemary in the middle and English ivy at the top, which he hopes will spread (I, on the other hand, foresee it taking about 10 years). My real desire would be to fill all three areas with veggies and herbs, but the deer and rabbits dictate what goes where around here.

At the top of the wall is a path that leads from the greenhouse and area where we park, up to the house. It was just dirt and weeds at one point, but now looks like this~

I'm afraid once all the work is done, I'll never want to leave!