3/15/10

Spring has sprung

And, I have the sore back to prove it. Whoohee. We spent almost all of Saturday in the yard, as did most of the neighbors. You could hear the yardwork going on all around us on this truly beautiful weekend. One of the things I did was take out a really bad walkway we had improvised between the greenhouse and the back of the house. This is the main drainage way for the lot so I have to be careful what I put there. Our neighbor just up the hill built an illegal concrete footing all around her property to divert the drainage and what she's created is a river that flows through our back yard and our next door neighbor's, too. We both have carefully designed floodways to divert the water across our property and into the street. The mulch I've used here will form into a mat that will help prevent the dirt from washing away. And, the brick lining along the narrow flowerbed will keep any rushing water from washing away the soil around our foundation.

I'd love to have her take that footing out, but every so often, our neighbot gets in a nasty mood and comes knocking on the door to tell us about some problem we've created for her and I want to save that footing in case I need it as a get out of jail card later. The construction crew also moved the pin that marks the property line, so the posts that hold the fence are technically on my property...another ace in the hole for later.




I had planned to post pictures of the flowerbeds this morning, but it was very overcast and dark and I couldn't get any pictures, so I took one of this witch hazel in bloom. Can you believe Sydney says there's no color in my beds? Hmmph to her. They're not a profusion of color in any season, but there's some color all the time. And, a good green base to back it all.



Okay, that's it for my gardening pictures. We missed our deadline last Friday as well on that document that needs to go to the state. So, I guess I'd better get busy. Have a great Monday.

Lane

5 comments:

lw said...

Your neighbor likely needed an easement for 1. diverting water through your property and 2. building on your property. So I think you do have an ace in the hole, so to speak.

We had so much to do this weekend, that we got the seeds, plants, mulch and composted chicken manure bought and now it's waiting for us to put it all into the garden next Friday (we're working 9/80 out here.)

John Going Gently said...

everyone and his wife has been out and about this weekend

Shay said...

Hi Lane,

OK, this made me laugh our loud -"in case I need it as a get out of jail card later"

I'm so not a gardener, but I love beautiful gardens and I really admire anyone who has the pateince to cultivate one. I love a splash of colour and lots of leafy green. You stick to your guns ! Or maybe give Sudney a patch of her own to plant some colour in.

Hoping that document gets finished this week so you can get that monkey off your back.

Becky said...

I'd keep the footer for get out of jail card....but I would investigate moving the pin for the property line. Here in W. Va. if someone "uses" your property without asking you for a period of 10 years, the property becomes theirs. It just happened to my friends....their neighbor built a road that encroached on their property in one place. The court gave the neighbors the property....they ended up losing 12 acres!!

Elizabeth said...

Ah, the joys of nasty neighbors! We have those too. They'd let their dogs into my yard, and the dogs treated my flower beds like 'doggie rest stops.' They got really defensive when I started to shoo the dogs out of yard, but the stains on the curbing and the finding of 'doggie land mines' the hard way isn't something I enjoyed when I don't even have pets. Eventually they put up a fence to keep the dogs in, but that was filled with lots of nastiness (and further attacks on my flower beds) on their part as well.

Quilting and gardening are two of my favorite things. Your blog is very enjoyable! Thanks for sharing.