Levers and Fulcrums and Sledges, Oh My!

I decided that I wanted to plant flowers in the area in front of the house. There's a bunch of weeds that Hubby mows every so often, and I thought it would be so much nicer to see flowers, and then he doesn't have to worry about mowing there. It'll be on automatic drip, and the world will be wonderful. But, aside from weeds, there's also a big ring of concrete that needs to be taken away. Removed. Lifted by hand, pretty much. Lots of blood, sweat, and tears. Well, hopefully no blood, and probably no tears, but I guarantee you there will be sweat. Lots of sweat. Anyway, this is the before picture:

I know, you're saying, "Concrete? What concrete?" Don't be fooled by the innocent look. Pictures lie! There's actually a 3 foot wide ring of concrete going all around the bushes, tree, and up to the fence, then back around the bushes. We're taking the concrete out by hand, but we need a few tools. This is what we used: a bar, a chunk of concrete, and a sledge hammer. Simple stuff. But manly stuff.


I'm not manly enough for the sledge, so my wonderful son did that.


I used the bar and the chunk of concrete. It's much easier!


This is the final load to get rid of the concrete pieces. Those big ones on the tailgate are heavy! The springs on the pickup are really good. Hubby said not to worry. We raked up the little pieces, and away we went.

Next, "we" will rototill everything up, spray for weeds, and put in lots and lots of compost and manure. And a short fence, just to define the space. But that's going to have to wait for another day. It's also going to take a lot longer than removing concrete. Demolition always goes faster than construction.