When we first came to this house, we were shocked by the amount of garbage, building supplies, furniture, and appliances that one person could accumulate, let alone be comfortable leaving outside of their home as "yard art." By the time we moved in, the previous owner had gone through the property and moved a majority of the junk either to the dump or to the dead neighbor's house.
 Before |  After (although the RV did leave as well) |
The previous owner had removed a lot of his litter, the start of his poorly-planned garage, the construction scraps, and his yard cars. We were pleasantly surprised by his willingness to clean up his mess, although it might have had something to do with the strongly written addendum to the sales contract that specified severe monetary penalties for failure to do so.
Thus we felt as if we had won a small battle and would be starting with a property in decent working order with no outdoor mess. Little did we really understand how much we would be adding to the yard detritus in the coming days.
Within 24 hours of moving in, we realized that there were three full sized appliances that didn't work at all and another two that were too gross for us to consider using. And, in rural zone tradition, these (along with assorted cabinets that were removed) ended up decorating our yard while awaiting a trip to the appliance recycle.
Thus we felt as if we had won a small battle and would be starting with a property in decent working order with no outdoor mess. Little did we really understand how much we would be adding to the yard detritus in the coming days.
Within 24 hours of moving in, we realized that there were three full sized appliances that didn't work at all and another two that were too gross for us to consider using. And, in rural zone tradition, these (along with assorted cabinets that were removed) ended up decorating our yard while awaiting a trip to the appliance recycle.
 Gardening with appliances. |  The growing stack of things for the dump. |