I learned 4 phrases from 7grizzly's APAD - APAD: Rack and Ruin - 7grizzly发表于 美语世界 - 论坛 | 文学城 (wenxuecity.com) and tried to use them in my story below.

Since moving to my house in 2017, I had always wanted to remodel a neglected corner of my backyard that had fallen into rack and ruin, overrun with weeds and looking quite unsightly.

1. Before

I spent a lot of time browsing online for ideas, but I quickly became overwhelmed by the endless options. I would chop and change my plans constantly, unable to settle on a direction, so the corner remained untouched for years.

Last year, I finally committed to the project. I envisioned transforming the space into a meditation area and decided to build a deck alongside a zen garden.

My husband was a tremendous help, always at my beck and call, ready to assist with the heavy lifting and hammering nails into place.

2 & 3 Work in process

After two months of hard work, the corner was finally transformed into exactly what I had envisioned. Now, there’s a low deck where I can sit, a gravel river flowing around moss-covered "hills,", a stone bridge across the gravel river and a standing stone on the gravel that I can rake into different shapes. I’m very pleased with the fair and square look of this newly designed garden corner.

4-9 After

Thank you 7grizzly for sharing these 4 phrases and thank you everyone for reading my story! Have a nice weekend!