The yard needs some serious landscaping. We were talking about it back in spring--what we'd do if we had money. Even if we're renting. We'd like to put some actual edging around the garden area to keep the grass out and put down new mulch around all the bushes and through the gardens (there are no flowers, just the bushes and weeds). We'd also remove the mostly dead bush.
Actually the choices of bushes make no sense. I'd take them all out and put something needing less maintenance in. I'd actually happily do that stuff for the landlady because I adore this house but we don't have the money this year. I just don't like how bitchy she got. She didn't even ask why the yard wasn't neat. We could both be dying of the flu or I could have cancer or something. She just assumed we were lazy and didn't fee like doing it.
Her initial complaint was it was full of weeds. She didn't come over and actually look. The only weeds were down in the front by the dead bush wedged between our property and the house next door.
What she thought were weeds were actually tiny trees trying to grow. The neighbors cut down their 2 large trees and that's caused the roots to start sprouting little saplings. They are everywhere along the root system. Plus our tree and the 3 tree-like bushes have little trees growing from seeds (I assume). The offshoots of the 2 big trees are pretty thick. I was able to mow most of them down but some needed to be trimmed with the hedge clippers and some of those were too big to actually cut with the clippers.
But they weren't weeds. They were mini-trees. Most of the weeds have died with the lawn out front.
She's probably just mad because the people across the street (the one that had the drama with the cops and the baby and the husband) up and left. They did even less yard work than us. In the few months they lived there I only saw them cut the grass like once. It got really long so I assumed they didn't have a lawn mower and we have an extra (the people that lived there before gave it to us) but just when I though to offer it to them the landlady came and did the yard work. So she's probably just pissed they didn't keep up the yard and is taking it out on us since we're still here.
The rainy season is starting which makes doing any yard work almost impossible. Then it gets cold and there's nothing to do after that (stuff doesn't grow in the winter). Then spring comes and it's always rainy. It's only in the summer you have to really worry but this past summer was super dry. It rained like 3 days between July 1 and the beginning of September. It was crazy and hot. I wasn't about to go out there and trim bushes in 100F heat. Not when 80F causes me to get heat exhaustion.
I don't mind cutting the grass other than the front yard because it's on a steep slope. It doesn't show in the picture but it's like a 45 degree angle. It's hard on the legs, lol. I find mowing kind of relaxing as long as it's not super hot out. I just hate the rest of the crap. The trimming and weeding. If I had a garden it would all be mulch with planters of flowers and low maintenance bushes.
In Alabama we did summer yard work around twilight before the midday heat exhaustion hours. Low-noise stuff in the morning, noisy equipment in the evening, or whatever the neighbors were comfortable hearing. Of course, back when America was still a frontier, families relied upon having lots of children to help out on the farm. I love weeding more than anything; the feel and sound of an unwelcome plant being ripped from the bosom of the earth gratifies the eeevil villian inside me.
Is there any way to make friends with your landlady, or explain to her how close to the edge you live time-wise and money-wise?
Thanks on the weight thing. It feels good. I'm kind of stuck right now since I haven't really been watching what I eat. I stuffed my face with potato chips last night. :(
I think I just needed to indulge a little, counting every calorie was getting tedious.
Anyway, I think most people around here do the work in the evening. It's usually too wet in the morning even if it's not raining. Everything gets all dewy and it takes awhile for the sun to get up high enough to dry stuff. Like it rained last night but hasn't all morning and everything is still soaking wet outside and it's noon. There's too much cloud cover for the sun to dry the grass. My weed wacker does not like wet grass.
Oh no, I understand that. I'm all about everything in moderation. But this past week I threw moderation out the window. I practically at the entire HUGE bag of chips on my own. So, so bad. They are my weakness and I've denied myself them for so long because I can't eat just a handful.
I really don't eat them much any more. When I was in college that was my dinner. I'd stop on my way home from work and grab a 20oz of Diet Coke and a bag of chips and eat them while watching my taped shows.
I rarely eat chips any more but when I do I binge on them. Like this last week. They were super yummy, though, so I hope it's out of my system. The fact that we're now broke is in my favor. It means my husband can't go buy more to tempt me with.
Actually the choices of bushes make no sense. I'd take them all out and put something needing less maintenance in. I'd actually happily do that stuff for the landlady because I adore this house but we don't have the money this year. I just don't like how bitchy she got. She didn't even ask why the yard wasn't neat. We could both be dying of the flu or I could have cancer or something. She just assumed we were lazy and didn't fee like doing it.
Her initial complaint was it was full of weeds. She didn't come over and actually look. The only weeds were down in the front by the dead bush wedged between our property and the house next door.
What she thought were weeds were actually tiny trees trying to grow. The neighbors cut down their 2 large trees and that's caused the roots to start sprouting little saplings. They are everywhere along the root system. Plus our tree and the 3 tree-like bushes have little trees growing from seeds (I assume). The offshoots of the 2 big trees are pretty thick. I was able to mow most of them down but some needed to be trimmed with the hedge clippers and some of those were too big to actually cut with the clippers.
But they weren't weeds. They were mini-trees. Most of the weeds have died with the lawn out front.
She's probably just mad because the people across the street (the one that had the drama with the cops and the baby and the husband) up and left. They did even less yard work than us. In the few months they lived there I only saw them cut the grass like once. It got really long so I assumed they didn't have a lawn mower and we have an extra (the people that lived there before gave it to us) but just when I though to offer it to them the landlady came and did the yard work. So she's probably just pissed they didn't keep up the yard and is taking it out on us since we're still here.
The rainy season is starting which makes doing any yard work almost impossible. Then it gets cold and there's nothing to do after that (stuff doesn't grow in the winter). Then spring comes and it's always rainy. It's only in the summer you have to really worry but this past summer was super dry. It rained like 3 days between July 1 and the beginning of September. It was crazy and hot. I wasn't about to go out there and trim bushes in 100F heat. Not when 80F causes me to get heat exhaustion.
I don't mind cutting the grass other than the front yard because it's on a steep slope. It doesn't show in the picture but it's like a 45 degree angle. It's hard on the legs, lol. I find mowing kind of relaxing as long as it's not super hot out. I just hate the rest of the crap. The trimming and weeding. If I had a garden it would all be mulch with planters of flowers and low maintenance bushes.
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Is there any way to make friends with your landlady, or explain to her how close to the edge you live time-wise and money-wise?
BTW congrats on losing 30lbs! That's inspiring.
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I think I just needed to indulge a little, counting every calorie was getting tedious.
Anyway, I think most people around here do the work in the evening. It's usually too wet in the morning even if it's not raining. Everything gets all dewy and it takes awhile for the sun to get up high enough to dry stuff. Like it rained last night but hasn't all morning and everything is still soaking wet outside and it's noon. There's too much cloud cover for the sun to dry the grass. My weed wacker does not like wet grass.
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I really don't eat them much any more. When I was in college that was my dinner. I'd stop on my way home from work and grab a 20oz of Diet Coke and a bag of chips and eat them while watching my taped shows.
I rarely eat chips any more but when I do I binge on them. Like this last week. They were super yummy, though, so I hope it's out of my system. The fact that we're now broke is in my favor. It means my husband can't go buy more to tempt me with.
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