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| Back Patio's Summertime Look |
Seriously, our front yard look like a neglected vacant lot when I arrived home from Arizona 2 weeks ago. I live in the Portland, Or. metro area. Things grow here fast and well...even weeds. Six months with not one whit of care left our flower beds littered with leaves and a million sprouting maple seeds. All I could think was that someone in the neighborhood could have called the HGTV Yard Crashers and tv cameras would appear. The lady next door would tell the tv people how she could hardly wait for them to clean up the trash so she would have something beautiful to look at. I would be embarrassed.
If you are a snowbird that owns two places, you know what I am talking about. This is one of the dilemmas that faces us each year. There is a need for us to keep our home's appearance up if for no other reason than to make it look as though someone is at home. Nothing invites trouble more that a house that looks abandoned.
Timing is one solution that comes to mind right away. Here in the northwest we can leave in late October and arrive back in late April. The yard just sleeps while we are gone. Even as bad as ours looked, the spring rains were keeping everyone else from doing more maintenance too.
Landscaping services really don't charge that much around here. I have a neighbor that pays $60 a month to have her very small yard mowed and flowers trimmed or a tree shaped up once in a while. That is something that would help a lot.
In some situations, a house sitter can be helpful. The sitter can do some yard work as part of their sitting job. I always dream I will come home to clean windows and maybe a house sitter would do that for me. Golly, wouldn't that be nice.
So, HGTV has not shown up. We have cleaned, raked, bagged leaves and planted 40 petunias. It actually looks like someone lives here again. Good for us! As for the window, that remains for another time.
Have a lovely day.
b
Clean windows upon arrival. A dream!
ReplyDeleteI wondered how snowbirds deal with being gone for half the year, and now I have the answer..let nature takes its course!
ReplyDeleteDo you live in an HOA area? If so, is that ever a problem?
Glad you made it safely home. Things are starting to get a bit toasty in Tucson.
Bob
ReplyDeleteYes we have HOA that is very strong. I am always aware of neighbors perception and work hard to maintain a good relationship. If there were a concern raised we would hire a gardener for part of the year. Our dues are only $40 per month compared to over $200 at our last home. We can afford to have someone do yard work if need be.
In our particular case timing is everything!
Barbara
Jannette,
ReplyDeleteClean windows are my dream...sigh!
b