Can't See The Truth for the Trees

Is this ugly? Is this curb appeal? Actually after I took these and about 20 other pictures, I ripped out all the azaleas, heather and that ugly bottlebrush plant. Everything that hung over the red curb is either cut back or gone. Mostly...gone. If it doesn't make me smile, it is gone.

See my house number? Stupid person planted a tree right in front of it, but you can still see the number. Tree is still small enough to either cut down or dig up. It's soon gone. So is the juniper that someone idiotically planted right in front of those 2 cedars. I filled 2 yard debris bins and the rest of my garbage can with cuttings after I took these photos. I'll have to get someone to help me haul off the debris from the back yard. It can't wait another 2 weeks and the bins will not be adequate.
I put an ad in Craigslist for the Juniper and the 2 small spruces. I got 3 quick replies. One was local and the other were from people with out of state numbers and claims that they actually live here, but have those numbers. I dunno. S0mething does not seem right there, so I haven't answered their phone calls. Why would con artists want to defraud someone who is giving something away? so confused. ......
Up in the corner is a photo of my new toy. It's an 8- 14 foot long telescoping pruner with a saw attachment to cut branches up to 6 inches across and up to 21 feet high. I found one that cuts even higher if this isn't good enough. Going to kill my neck using it, but I intend to take it all back to at least where it was when I bought the place and coordinate maintaining it with my neighbors cooperation. Looks like there are some dead ones in the bunch and I hope that Dale can help me with his chain saw and get them out of there. I also need help hauling debris to the dump or wherever that stuff goes. I need more time. Legally, I can get more time.
I'm going to cut down anything that gets in my way or is not a cherry tree or lacey maple, or is not too high for me to tackle. Those I'll just thin out 25% and wait until next year to hack off some more.
Also got some paint for the trim and the gate - why can't I get these damn pictures to attach on the page where I want them? I think Blogger is really low rent, - oh yeah, that's right....it's free.

Pathetic Gasbags Succumb to Foul Weather and Exhaustion

Feeling guilty, because I've done no yardwork since Tuesday. It's Friday, raining and my son and I are both feeling ill from something we ate at lunch. We came home and collapsed. First thing I did was play with my black border collie (some think she's part lab, but I don't see it). No matter how tired I am, she's been inside all day and if I can't manage a walk, I can at least thrill her with some Frisbee tossing. She'll do anything to have me play Frisbee. It's better than treats. All I have to do is say "Frisbee" and she's doing the Happy Dog dance.

I weighed myself - at least 5 pounds of air bloated me up since lunch. What the hell did we eat that caused this? Can't be middle age because my 18 yr old has it too.

Then I slept. As I fell asleep I visualized ripping those wimpy Azalias out of the ground. Don't like Azalias or heather. Out go all the rest of the heather and the last of the bottle brush. Just rip it all out and dump it in the debris bin. Out comes that weird low and creepy evergreen bush that traps leaves and refuses to let me rake them out. Leaving nothing but ferns and trees that have been pruned - severely, I'll be finally done with the front - except for the bark mulch. Ferns not pruned severely - just dead fronds removed. I like the ferns. Can't get rid of the trees unless I can find someone to cut them down. I may treat the area with caseron and then start dumping rocks in it. There's a lot of rock around here and I don't think I want it in back.

My father used to garden by ripping everything out of the ground sometimes. It was like some kind of purge. Just get rid of it all and start over. My mother didn't like it, but what could you do? If you're bipolar and probably autistic, you're going to do what you are driven to do and having someone complain about it just drives you that much harder. I don't think Dad ever ripped out the raspberries, though. Those were his favorites and mine too. If I can grow raspberries, I'm at one with my earth, my dirt, my tacky tiny yard in a terrorized trailer park.

Tomorrow I borrow the long handled pruner and get serious with the trees. Pray for my neck.
going back to sleep...

I Am Blessed by the 74th Legislative Assembly - HB2735 Is a Miracle!

This is wonderful news and so well timed.
Commonwealth needs to update their nasty letters. They can no longer claim that tenants have no legal recourse. They can NOT prove that I am likely to continue to "violate" the yardwork rule, because I have neighbors who will concur that I had a nice yard before I broke my arm and that they see me out there working my ass off (literally) to get caught up. Their claim that I can be evicted without due process is another lie. I actually have more rights than most renters and can get free mediation if I act before the final notice - which they can't send because I'm busting my butt to comply.

Yesterday a group of my students (ages 9 to 14) tried to volunteer to help me get it all caught up so I could finish setting up my studio (which means they could hang out and weave baskets). I thanked them, but I'm concerned about liability and don't feel that I can accept their sweet offer.

As for my back yard, I have a witness that Commonwealth's representative told me on the day I paid for the house that he would have someone come to trim the trees - they later reneged, with no explanation. I have written proof from the county that Commonwealth's representative destroyed my fish pond, lying to me about the reason and using an unwitting electrical inspector as a scapegoat. The pond was one of the attractions for the house and I had immediate plans to bring it up to code and install a new filter. I did want the weird waterfall thing gone and they took care of that , but they lied about the pond instead of discussing plans to upgrade it. I do not appreciate being treated as though I'm stupid and I despise anyone who has lied to me once and hate them twice as much if they lie to me twice.

Those lies left me with a nasty taste in my mouth about my new house. I was so heartsick over the loss of the pond. The alreadt overgrown Arborvitae and other trees grew beyond reason, since the former owner of record reneged on their promise to trim those trees and I was overwhelmed with chronic pain and depression and lost all desire to go back there. The Arborvitae are not actually on my lot, but it appears that someone put up a fence with the Arborv. several feet into the neighbor's lot - their electric meter now appears to be in my yard. If we could get rid of the "trees", I'd be happy to help move the fence and give them back their meter and strip of missing yard. People are rediculously territorial around here. I say - take it. It's that much less yard to take care of. ...


Don't get me wrong. I'm still busting my ass to bring my yard up to standards. I've moved on to a point where I want to remove the forest canopy from my tiny space and let the sun shine in. I intend to make a patio with the pavers that are already back there and with my popup canopy. Nice place to weave baskets -I plan to have the fun I dreamed about when I first bought the place - making mosaic pavers and planters and finishing the giant mosaic on the back of the house - using the outline left by the former owner. I'll fill in the rest of the space with raspberries and tasteful trellises. The heritage cherry tree will snap back and produce those incredible cherries again.

My back yard plans are kind of a rebirth and celebration of the passage of this house bill .

Just think - had I not taken the time to research tenants rights for manufactured homes, I would not have found out about this new law which becomes law in late September. This will be fantastic incentive for me to spend ample time in my yard, keeping up appearances. I don't believe the 6 month requirement for not allowing a single weed to flourish can be enforced, but I intend to never give them a chance to try.

My Landscaping Journal Begins in my Defense against the Machine

Does this look like the yard of a slob, a slacker, a person with no pride in their home or one deserving to be kicked out of a trailer park for failing to comply with the landscaping rules? I'm talking about basic requirements - keep it weeded, raked, pruned, watered, fertilized - just the basics, nothing fancy like th0u shalt always have seasonal flowers planted or thou must use landscaping blocks and spend a lot of money on your curb appeal.

I wish I had "before" pictures - sure it got very overgrown and was unattended for over 6 months because I broke my arm last year, had surgery and recently had agonizing trouble with an arthritic hip and generally miserable joint pain all over my body. A cousin helped me with the Fall weeding and then disappeared before Spring came around. My 18 year old son is difficult to motivate or direct. He's intelligent, talented, funny, good-looking and a high-functioning autistic adult. If I don't work with him, he only knows some basic yardwork skills and can't visualize solutions for tricky problems like removing tree branches that obstruct the house number or how to wipe out a patch of noxious weeds, or deal with crabgrass. His mind is on music (he's a brilliant guitarist), art (he just graduated from an arts/communication high school) and friends (most of whom are female). (what's with the underlining and how come the freaking toolbar has no way to get rid of it? Come on Blogger people...)

These pictures were taken on Monday - same day I got the nasty notice from Commonwealth Properties. I've been given a deadline of August 17, 2007 to bring my lot into compliance or leave. Do you know what that means for someone with a mobile or manufactured home? We can't rent it - against the rules. Can't pay rent on the lot for the empty house and rent on another place to live. These places usually take quite awhile to sell, especially if you want to get your asking price instead of taking a lowblow offer from someone who will probably fix it up with cheap carpeting, slap on some cheap paint and pocket an amazing profit. Pennies on the dollar for you and where do you and your child or children go to live after you've been ejected from a trailer park? Where do your beloved pets go? And who is that somebody who will either give you the lowblow offer or more likely wait it out until he can just steal it from you? The owner of the park who resents any other realtor coming into his park to represent any of the houses, owned by the residents in actuality, but owned by the park owner in his own mind.

I've been working on the yard for about 2 weeks, because I discovered that Ibuprophen is a wonder drug for joint pain and I've even been able to work hard out there for up to 3 hours and not wake up the next day with the kind of pain that had been dogging me for over a year. I also have recently lost over 30 pounds which can only make all activity easier. I also am a shameless follower of the Flylady - Marla Cilley - the most wonderful life coach in the world and she doesn't charge for the incredible life-saving work she does. Flylady has taught me about routines and structure for side-tracked people who tend to be ADD and live in chaos. The interior of my house has gone from total CHAOS (can't have anyone over syndrome) to a place with some semblance of order, dishes usually washed and bed always made (mine, not my son's). I'm not anywhere near to being done with the interior, but I've moved way beyond the shame and depression of the chaos that was my life.

A week ago last Sunday, I spent an afternoon on hands and knees, pulling what I think were crabgrass roots, as an alternative to constant Roundup spray - I had a mountain of grass root and the entry to my house went from covered with knee-high weeds to a beautiful clean walkway with bark-dusted beds and re-discovered stonework along the walkway. The following Thursday, I awoke from my evening nap (we work all day, outdoors, in the heat with large groups of demanding children and arrive home exhausted, so shut-up) and there was a car sitting perpendicular to my car at the end of my driveway. It looked odd and I said so, not far from an open window (relative space in a trailer park is kind of European - small, close and intimate). The driver of the car was startled and suddenly tossed a notebook and pen on the seat and tore off down the street.

Who was taking notes on my private home and why? What I want to know really is why they only noted the work yet to be done and completely dissed my accomplishments. Obviously this is a work in progress and obviously I do good and thorough work - just look at that entrance. All that remains to do there is paint the fence. I even have plans and paint to redo the entire porch and do the parts the previous owner didn't bother with. I also plan to tile the rises on the steps - that part that you don't walk on, but see as soon as you walk through the gate. I am sure as hell not doing all this so that Commonwealth Properties can steal my house and profit off all my hard work. They will never get my house. I'll sell it for pennies on the dollar to a friend who can move it before I'll let those bastards have my house with the wonderful mosaic bathroom and kitchen (photos to follow when I figure out where they are on my computer).

Tuesday, after work, instead of napping, I was still fueled by anger and in addition to the hour of furious weeding I did Monday after bringing in the mail, I worked another 3 hours weeding, thinning, raking, pruning obsessively and chopping debris into little pieces for optimal stuffing into the yard debris bin. Pickup is not until Wednesday next week. My neighbors, who are also my 2nd cousins (well, it IS a trailer park) brought their empty debris bin over without having to be asked. They are completely sympathetic, not because they are related, but because they have been harassed by Commonwealth repeatedly about parking their boat in their carport (they finally sold it to be done with the grief) and also for yardwork (their lot is completely done in lava rock and nothing grows there - typical here for keeping the owners off your back). The most rediculous notice they ever received was an order to remove their collection of yard angels - statues of angels and cherubs - one with a gazing ball - because "nobody else has religious icons in their yard" or perhaps it was "this is too trailer trashy for our too-big for it's britches park". As soon as I can afford to waste a little money I am getting at least 2 big pink flamingoes and posting them out front. Our response to the order to remove angels next door was to put an angel in our yard as well. Hell with em.

Another reason my cousins are still here is Legal Aid. Their pro bono lawyer proved that a lot of the hot air that accompanies these nasty notices is just hot air. They are heavily loaded with lots of warnings that "you have no legal recourse. We've paid our due to lobbyists in Salem and we now have all the power over where you live - so get cozy with your car, because we can have you living there in a heartbeat." Actually, they are just like any other bully. Big, ugly and talking shit. Bring your guardian angel (your pro bono lawyer) and they just fall over, start babbling over the phone and hang up on you. They are so naive not to ever consider that their tenants are not stupid. We know how to find the number for Legal Aid and some of us have close friends who happened to go to law school and own a 20 yr old practice in Portland.

For over three years I have kept my little secrets to myself, because I want to save them for the right moment. Confiding in a blog is not really a public act unless you get hits and people don't find you boring, so I doubt that this will ever reach Commonwealth Properties. If it does, all the better, but I don't give a pig's patoot what they do or don't know about me. I know that they are sleazy lying bastards and I have written proof from a county electrical inspector.