Back yard landscape update

Been spending a lot of time this week in backyard again!

Just as a reminder, these were THE BEFORES of the backyard landscaping weedy nightmare

These are after hours and hours of cutting trees myself, having a few professionally removed, after pulling weeds, removing all the ivy from the privet heads on the property line in the back, digging my own beds, and mulching myself!!!! And I'm not even halfway there!
The 100$ worth of seeds I planted, seem to only be sprouting like six plants. 
Makes me so mad.  I need to remember to call and complain to wherever I bought those online.....
Half of them were moldy.  I gave them a shot and now I'll never plant a seed/bulb garden again.  Pointless.  Sigh.....

Just this week, I put in a new butterfly bush and a new hydrangea. 
This gardening is hard hard work, but I do love it. 
Once plants start coming in or when I plant some more things, the painstaking hours and hours will have been worth it.  I think.   For the beauty of it..... I can envision it.  Will be awhile.

Working on estimates for a small bit of fence in backyard.  Between neighbors house and ours. 
Hopefully will have 25 foot of fence by end of August.  And a patio.  A patio with an awning.  Dreaming big. 

Anyway, just a quick peek into my ongoing project.  There was SO much ivy.    

Stair Newels and Rails Complete

It all started with a vision.  A vision of a grand staircase upon entrance to our house.
It's probably what the house looked like when it was first built. 
(You could actually see where the original curved stair was and where it attached to wall when we started digging!)

To get to our end result, it required removing walls and closets, turning stairs and making new and ...recreating similar newel posts and rails to match the original ones which were exposed upon removal of closets and walls.  
It required the whole stair set to be removed and reinstalled because when we removed the carpet on the stairs, the bottom set was coming away from the wall! Scary and unsafe.

So now is the big reveal.  Many iterations occurred to get us to our now oak newel posts. 
And I think it looks fabulous. 

                                                                   THE BEFORE

THE AFTER

 
                                                                  
                                                                      THE BEFORE

                                                                     THE AFTER

                                                                   THE AFTERS

How about those before and after shots?
Huge transformation!
Now it's open, more grand, but more welcoming with all the stained oak....

Now if I can only convince Jon that my new antique ice cream parlor stool with plant needs to stay on the landing of the stairs as to balance out that window that is not centered.  That may be my biggest feat yet.  I say it stays.  He says it goes.  I say stay.