Backyard destruction

Well I'm going to make this short because hubby is off on trip 2 of 3 to the tip and I have to look helpful when he's back. I've got some finished pictures of the shelves avec les livres as you may say if you are French. It looks so nice and I'm really pleased. Here is the finished product!

The other big news is the backyard. After getting multiple builders quotes we were SHOCKED to find out how much it would cost to pay someone to redo the paving, fence etc in our little backyard. So the ever practical hubby decided that there was definitely some stuff we could do ourselves....cue me with a shovel a mountain of gravel and lots of rubble sacks....oh and a hammer, hand saw and whatever else was needed.  I learned a few things from this: 1) gravel is the devil's own playtoy (it's heavy, dirty and we have tons of it), 2) decking should not be put in a damp corner that never gets the sun...it rots...badly and 3) we're insane. Enough of that here's how it looks in progress:

PS. We also have wild blackberries growing in our backyard so super excited when those are ready!