Working out anxiety — a quick note to anchor this piece for readers.
Working out anxiety: Quick notes
After I posted about my plans for the back patio and back exterior of our house yesterday, I went outside and thought to myself, “Just how hard could it be to tear down that fireplace and those planters?” It didn’t seem like it would be difficult at all, but unfortunately, I didn’t have the time at that moment, nor did I have the right tool. But I was having one of those days where I felt like I needed to work out some anxiety and frustration, and what’s a better way to do that than to break things? 😀
I had a lot of non-house-related things I had to get done during most of the morning and early afternoon, and then I spent a couple of hours with friends in the late afternoon/early evening. But fortunately, one of my friends had the tool I needed (i.e., a sledgehammer) for this job. So when I finally got home and had some free time to do what I wanted to do, I had a singular focus. I wanted (nay…needed) to break things.
So I headed outside with that sledgehammer at about 6:40pm. I knew I was working against the clock since the sun would be too dark to work outside by about 8:00, so I got busy. Here’s a reminder of what I was working with. There were actual trees growing in the planters, and this whole area had been all but forgotten for far too long.
So all of those trees growing up in that planter were almost completely blocking the view of our back yard. And the whole area was an eyesore.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t start breaking things until I first cut away all of the little trees vines that were in the way. Just doing that made a huge difference, but as you can see, there’s nothing pretty about the planters and fireplace. They were falling apart in places, and the entire backside of one of the planters was already falling over.
So after cutting away all of those plants, I was finally able to get to the part that I had been waiting for all day long. I climbed up on the fireplace and started taking out my frustration on the chimney. It was so satisfying to watch those bricks crumble with each swing of the sledgehammer, and even more satisfying to see more of our back yard come into view as more and more of this fireplace was removed.
Obviously, with so little time to work before it got dark, I wasn’t able to get the whole thing broken up, but I did get the whole fireplace and most of one of the side square things beside the fireplace broke up.
I’m not quite sure how I’ll get rid of all of these bricks. I didn’t really plan that far. 😀 The only planning I put into this was to break things, and I accomplished that plan. And just as I thought, there’s nothing better than swinging a sledgehammer and watching things crumble to work out frustrations and anxiety.
So this is where I left things last night when the sun went down. I think it’ll probably take another day or two to break apart the rest of the planters, and then another day to find someone to come haul all of this away for me. I have a couple of people I call to haul off stuff like this for me, so I’ll have to see if one of them is available to do that this weekend.
And of course, my mind is now spinning with ideas. This patio was used as my painting area for many years, so the whole thing will need a good cleaning with my power washer. I have a table and chairs, but those might need a coat of spray paint, and I’d also like to get an umbrella for the table. Then I’d like to get a couple of chairs and a coffee table for a seating area. And I’ll need a fun, colorful rug for the whole area. I can’t wait to get this area looking cute and usable!
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
A short mention of Working out anxiety helps readers follow the flow.
Working out anxiety comes up here to connect ideas for clarity.
