Back Yard

About a month ago, when the rains were coming down, the floods were coming up. We had a discussion with the city, thanks largely to the neighbor's help, and they agreed that there is a drainage problem in our backyard. The vacant and unused lot behind our house belongs to the school, and they also agreed that we could have the old pasture fence taken down. So when the city said they would take it down for us, we were ecstatic!

Behind this brush was supposed to be a drainage culvert that didn't really drain anything. It was so grown up that the water would rush right through our back yard creating a huge mess when flash floods came. There have been a couple of storms over the past few years that when it rained hard and fast, the water would rise about an inch from our back door. Scary stuff! This was taken back in April when it flooded the patio. Once the rain left, the dirt was left, and I spent two hours power-washing to get it all off. It was a huge mess. And it smelled like a lake. Well, it's been a while since we heard an update from the city, and when we got home yesterday this is what we saw.

Imagine our surprise when it was all cleared off. I'm not fond of the openness and we'll probably have to spend some money to put up a privacy fence later, but I'm very happy that the chances of us having any more floods has decreased! The city is going to do this all the way to the highway, hopefully!

Our next issue is going to get rid of some birds that have decided our front door area is the perfect hotel from them. I am NOT fond of the deposits they're making either, so they are going to need to vacate. If you have any ideas on how to make them leave, please let me know.