Our backyard gets a water blast

When we moved into our house a year and a half ago, the backyard was a dark, damp, ivy-riddled spot that also happened to be the view out of my kitchen window. Every time I looked at it as I washed dishes or prepared food, I thought about all the things I wanted to do to improve it. 

I've shared in a previous post about some of the work I've already done on this corner, getting a dying tree cut down, pulling ivy, edging the garden with bricks, digging in mulch, and planting fruit trees, shrubs and flowers. 

There was still one thing on my to-do list though... water blasting and staining the fences.

This weekend I got the first half of that job done when I spent about seven hours water blasting fences. It was incredibly satisfying watching years of dirt and grime wash away. The fences looked like they had never been washed before, and that's probably right because there didn't used to be a tap around the back of our house. I recently had one installed when a plumber came to fix a leak in the toilet. 

Our neighbours, who we've just started to get to know since they cut down the privet trees between our two properties, lent me their water blaster to do the job. I'm so grateful to them for that as I had been considering hiring or buying one.  

Back garden with brick border and clean fences. 

Now check out these before and after shots of our backyard...

BEFORE: Back garden newly planted. Fences still dirty.                

AFTER: Plants growing in and fences clean.

BEFORE: Blueberry corner newly planted, fences still dirty. 

AFTER: Blueberry corner with plants growing in and fences cleaned.
(Also new tap and painted house walls on the right.) 

BEFORE: Newly crafted fairy table; Dirty fences. 

AFTER: Weathered fairy table; Clean fences. 

I would love to stain these fresh fences immediately, but need to wait to purchase fence stain as Paul will be finishing his current job at the end of this week and we're going to have a few weeks of no income before he starts his new job in January. 

But in the meantime, what do you think of the clean fences? Are you as in love with them as I am?