 We're transforming our 10,000 square foot yard. It's a chaotic mess. It's a patchy, muddy, and puddle-filled place that's begging for a makeover. Today, you're about to witness the journey of bringing this area back to life. From the initial prep work to the precision of laying each piece of sod, we're leaving no blade of grass unturned. What a driver! That, my friends, is some beautiful topsoil. We just had that tandem track come in and dump two massive loads of black earth that will prepare us for grass. We've been working hard to get here. In the last few weeks, we have been leveling the land. We have plans to install a French drain right here. And soon, all of the water management and the yard will be in tip-top condition. Jasmine's got her first few buckets down, and we all know what comes next. Raking. Well, it's safe to say that we are well on our way to transition around here. It's going to look so good. Last loads on the way. Jasmine's jumping back in the tractor, and I'm gonna go get my rake. Quick interruption from raking topsoil. The most exciting thing just arrived in the mail. Check it out! Merch, baby, merch! If you've all been wondering, when is it coming? Well, we finally just got here. We got it so excited. I can't wait to rip open these boxes and see what we have for all of you. I'm so excited. Coming soon. Merch, it's going so soon. Yeah, like, now that we have it, we can take the photos, we can show you all, because we are so proud of it, and we cannot wait to have an item that we get to share with our pack and connect us as a community in real life. Open the boxes, girl! What are you waiting for? I have my glued smile on. I'm so happy. I haven't taken this hat off. Crystal gave her hat to Max, and now we have lots of boxes full of the pack, Merch, baby! I'm so excited. Oh, yes! Clips. Wow. Look at the attitude on this girl. I cannot get over her posture. Just looking like a queen. Crystal is absolutely crushing the raking right now. I don't know if she told you yet. Yeah, I've been in the tractor, but this is very wet topsoil. Even the truck driver apologized. Yeah, that's probably a pain. But there's really nothing you can do. We've tried to wait to have dryer topsoil, but with all the rain that we've got this summer, this is what we're working with, everyone. Our yard is becoming almost 10,000 square feet. So I'm gonna jump back in Clementine because it's almost the evening and we need to get going. Raking makes me sod, but Clementine sure is magic. We have a lot of ground to cover. I'm close to the solar! I think I have an idea. I raked all of this. All of this! That is a lot of raking! My friend and speaking of friends, I think I'm gonna go take two. My Facebook community. Does anyone wanna come to our sod party? Pizza gets everyone. We may or may not tell Jazzy about our friends. We are full of topsoil and that means we still need some friends. So, cross your fingers for us. Hello, how's raking going? I stopped raking long ago. And why is that? What do you mean why? What did you just pick up? Oh yeah. Let's show them. Wow, I'm tired. Yeah, you'll shit you. Literally, Crystal raked all of this. It seemed like a lot, but the dirt's really heavy right now. Crystal, this is like a subdivision backyard that you just raked, by the way. It looks small because we live in the woods here, but it's... But we're living large. We're living large in the woods here. Okay, anyways. Wow, I'm tired. Well, bam. That thing is going to hook right on to our ATV. We're gonna zip around and it's gonna rake it perfectly. Another one. I have a polydirt to play in all night. Oh my goodness. I am just about ready to snuggle in with Bella and Izzy on the deck here. It's been such a long, beautiful sunny day and we couldn't ask for better weather for this project. It's time to get it done. There's no rain forecast. Knock on wood, everyone. Then we can get through these projects and get the yard back and get a woodshed before frost. Leave it to us. You better believe Jasmine's gonna go till those piles are demolished. Oh my gosh, you guys. I know I'm a mess right now. Jasmine's outside finishing this work. It's getting dark, I'm doing some dishes and I looked out at my phone. It's 7.37 p.m. Winter is around the corner. I don't even know where this year went, honestly. I'm sure you're all feeling the same way. Is this the day that I'll go back and think of? Truckers on. Are you ready, Raker? I am ready. It is actually fun, but I'm really sore. My whole body is sore. My raker. I'm gonna like stretch it out. Ah! Does it hurt? Yeah. All the legs. Everything hurts. What are these moves? You know you're excited. It's to get in your tractor when you start up your tractor before you even start up your coffee machine. Now that's tractor love, baby. So last night I had to stop because, well, it got dark and I couldn't see. My vision is in the best of the daytime, so. I have night blindness. So the goal for this morning is to finish off what I couldn't see last night, which is moving the last two loads of topsoil. We have a little bit extra, but that's always a good thing. You never know when you're gonna need it. And we have a gorgeous fall day on our hands. And hopefully now that the topsoil is spread, it will start to dry out more. And then we can take that rake, grade the whole yard, and then third, we have a special delivery coming that is really going to transform this area. And I cannot wait to get started. Remind me of those words when I'm halfway through the job. Okay? Magic. Beep, beep, beep. Here comes the green. We are so happy to see all the materials arriving. With the help of the donkey, all 11 pallets are placed in the driveway and are patiently awaiting their perfectly spread topsoil. Let's get motivated. Are you a hacker? You look like hacker. 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It's a highly rated app that's easy to use and you can have your VPN on multiple devices like your laptop, your cell phones, and more. Go to surfshark.com forward slash VanWives and use code VanWives for three extra months free. Stay safe, my friends. Topsoil update, it's getting fluffier. It's still kind of hard, but at least it's drying out the top layer now that it's all spread. So we're looking- It's quite a bit drier. Yeah, much drier. So now it's time to- Move it around a bit. Move it around a bit, eh? With that thing. And this thing is going to make the job of leveling, fun, and fast. Say goodbye to my little friends, the rakes. Okay, because the topsoil is so wet and compact, we luckily have a neighbor who literally has everything and has loaned us this grate. We need to definitely put some pavers on top as it needs a little bit more weight due to how wet this topsoil is. But this is gonna be a big help for our arms, our backs, and everything else that raking does to you. Our carabiner broke. So we have this. We're gonna try attaching this. You're having fun, aren't ya? Having the best time. Nice. I can't stop laughing at Crystal right now. She's literally like a five-year-old kid just doing donuts in the front yard. This is so funny, you're just doing donuts. Good work! Killed it. Crushed it. Okay, so this is like perfect now. All we'll have to do right by hand is that over there and then some just like hit or miss areas and like before you do the row. Oh, my goodness. We just saved our bodies, eh? And like it still has so many hours of sun that now that it's been moved around and kind of flattened it'll just like dry it up that much more, I think. It's gonna be massive. Literally, that's double the salt and that's not even salt for the whole area. We're doing a mix of a yard, we think so far. We're winging this, everyone. The one minute we're hydro-seeding, the next minute we're seeding, the next minute we're putting sod on. So now we are putting sod on because it's here in the front because we want instant gratification because we went all summer long and winter is depressing without seeing greenery. So that's my reason for getting sod, just like you all know. And I think it's valid. It's gonna transform. Oh, my gosh. Just driving up to the black cabin with the green grass and all our beautiful gardening and work. Wow, it's coming together. Y'all, it's coming together. What are y'all doing in here? The party's at sod. Well, it looks like my community pose bribe worked out. Friends are here to help. Yes, I offered Clementine to dump dirt and rock into the wheelbarrow. I even started, but he insisted he was gonna do it by hand. Are you girls helping? Well everyone, I never thought I'd be raking this yard twice. We were here quite a few years ago doing the same thing. But just the two of us. Yeah, this is next level. Game changer. Boy, have we learned. But I gotta say, this thing that we're doing, you know, with all of these, it's a lot of work and it takes a lot of time. And a lot of people. Yeah, and a lot of patience. Especially when you want to do it right. So drainage, filling in the soft spots with stone and making sure the yard is completely level, no divots. Cause that's exactly where water collects. And then you don't have a good time. To be honest, everyone, majority of this part of getting your yard is literally just leveling and raking and making it 100% perfect for the years to come. Sweaty. Machines can only take you so far. So now that Crystal and I have completely done the entire area was spreading it. It's now time for the humans to come in and make it perfect. I never thought we would see our yard this perfect. This is the most important part. And it is looking 113% right now. I'm gonna put a drone shot up right here for you all. It can really show you how big our yard is becoming. His wheelbarrow mark is going across the yard. And then to the left of the cabin is what our yard used to be. We are now not only extending it wide underneath the solar but also around the house on each side and the back of the house. This place is amazing. It has transformed, baby. Getting up at the crackdown and getting started on this was the best move because now it's midday and the raking is done which is really honestly the hardest part sometimes. Yeah, that's why you all don't sleep in, everyone. Get it? No, they slept in. I caught them in the bedroom. Anyway, it's looking amazing. I'm really glad we made the decision to go from the dome all the way around to the driveway and the parking pad because just do it once. Do it right and get her done. This is the last time, everyone. The dogs are gonna be happy. We're gonna have a place to enjoy, to lay, to roll, to play, to run. I might even take a pee on the ground. Frisbee. It doesn't. It's going to be very nice. Major deja vu. Year one looked a lot like this. I'm having major deja vu. We had a fire pit here and it was amazing. We want to do that again but it's really hard to visualize especially now that the space has changed so much and it's just so much larger. So we're gonna go from every angle and put some, put some logs down. She's got logs and see what it looks like. She's strong. Right now is actually Goldilocks window for putting down sod. So what that means is that the temperature right now in Nova Scotia is so perfect to be putting this on the ground because the nights are dewy and cold which allows it to self-water and the days are warm enough that the roots can really take hold of the earth. So it's a good time for it. Good old Clementine can only handle 1,300 pounds. These pallets of sod are way too heavy. So we're gonna take down the pallets and then Clementine will come in, scoop them up and bring them to the other side because there's a lot of back and forth especially with some wheelbarrow. It is going by so fast. Moving really fast around here. The method that they have is incredible. They have two on the ground cutting the sod to make sure it's completely staggered. That way you don't see lines in your grass and when you cut it, it's just perfection. And then everyone else is all hands on deck bringing the pieces and they even taught us how to grab the sod instead of trying to fiddle under you just literally grab it like a mohawk with two hands and then you pick it up and you just toss it. It's so cool. Truly never seen something come to life so quickly out here. Having hands for this project is a no-brainer because last time we were up till the wee hours of the night and today we're gonna be able to enjoy our evening. Yes, approved. Being moved. Daws and I were saying that at the exact same time. Check it out. What's going on? Oh, you know. Just a pizza. For who? What do you think? It's not for Bella and Izzy, it's not for our supervisors. She thinks it is. Who's hungry? Come get your pizza, as promised. Something I found really funny because this was a last minute Facebook find. We're only going to be able to make it to really just the back of the house which is still incredible. That's our prediction at least or estimation. And I was talking to Dana or as the guys call him, the boss. And I said, we only got enough pallets that we could do ourselves. And he goes, 11 pallets for two? I said, we're quite ambitious, aren't we? We still haven't learned our limits after three years out here. I thought it was really funny though and I had to share it with all of you. Thanks. Bye. We're getting a view. Oh my goodness. This is wild. Instant grass, which is why we like it around here. Which is why we need it. We've waited too long. Oh my gosh. It just feels so good to have it back. Honestly, like living with the mud puddle is like I'm just so ecstatic to have this space back for so many reasons. And they were also super fun to work with. Like what a nice crew. So nice. How do we luck out with the best crews all the time? Best. I don't even know how, but that was amazing. I'm just crushed. Like the flow with everyone, like to think that it's like three o'clock right now. And can I mention, it's Saturday everyone. They came on a Saturday. That's how last minute this was. Thanks for taking to Facebook. Wow. I really appreciate that because we've learned and now. Oh my goodness. It looks unreal. It is, he's just having it. She's loving it. She loves the crew. So nice. This is Clementine's path because right here, as you all know, there's going to be a witch up. Bam. So Clem can get in and out nice and easily here. Tanking it in. Yeah. It's just like so, so surreal to like have a yard again. And just see it come together. It's just like one of our favorite things and we were living in the van was pulling up to like a giant green open area just like run around, throw a Frisbee, lay there. I love it. I just love having like. Walk bare feet. Walk, yeah. Well, we both put on shoes, eh? Yeah. That's so funny. I don't need to anyway. Yeah, it's nice to just like, you know. This is going to be the fire pit, similar to last time, but it seems like an essential part of living out here is having a place where you can gather with your friends and family around a fire and look up at the stars because that is the best spot to do it. It's nice and open. And we have the best stars out here. There's literally zero light pollution. Sometimes we can see the Milky Way. The stars up here are the nicest. Bell and Izzy are still loving it. They haven't even moved. It's their favorite spot in the entire world. Do you even have a place in the woods if you don't have a fire pit? This fire pit is an essential part of the vibe out here at the cabin. It's the best place to look up at the stars because there are no trees blocking your view. And let me tell you, these views are top notch. So this time we've made it a little bit bigger. The rocks are gonna be a little easier to walk on and it's gonna be that much more comfortable. This fire pit is just, it just means so much to me. It just makes it for me. I just would sit out here every night and I have been missing this completed area. It was worth it. We had to do what we had to do. It's time to bring it back. Also, thought I'd let you all know if you continue to wear shorts, winter won't come. Ready? Dig to China. That's the middle. This is washed river stone. So pretty. Everyone knows a beautiful natural fire pit has hand-selected rocks from nature. You gotta be a picky rock picker and you're making this, you know? That's a fire pit. That's a big pit. That's a massive fire pit. It looks great. Perfect. It looks so good. We're going for one more. I love it. Now I gotta build some benches. Behind me are some big eight by eight. I want to call them logs but they're just eight by eight pieces of mill lumber from our local mill and they weigh 600 pounds each. Good thing we've moved up to Fettuccine. If you get it, you get it. And if you don't, you should watch our solar install video where we lift a lot of concrete. Crystal is about to use Sparky. Oh, what'd you do with it? Our electric chainsaw. I love using this thing. So heavy, but hello, beautiful benches. Our yard is back. And your fire pit is back boogie. Bit by bit, we are bringing a dream back to life. From a muddy puddle-filled yard to this. This feels like all the hard work we've done this year is getting pulled together. Time to rake it all in. Ha, kidding back. Finally, after years of intense groundwork, all the trenching is done and the yard is back. No more mud and puddles, but rather a green open area to roam. A place for everyone to enjoy and the girls to retire on. They love it. A brand new tractor path for Clementine and a place to stay into the wee hours of the night when the embers of the fire glisten.