Spring is here….

Spring started off with a lovely party with friends, food and drinks. We could have not asked for a better start. Right now it’s about 30 degrees here and well I think spring is on hold for another week.

A little catching up – the house – not touched – nope – not one thing. I am struggling to find a reason why we should do anything more here. Our neighborhood looks for the most part like shit, a ghetto.

The neighbors next door think that our drive-way apron has an “enter” sign on it as they are driving up and across to their part of the side yard. I guess side yards and driveways are one in the same because it is trashed with tire tracks now. Lucky for us we have very big rocks that will be placed as landscaping material – cough, cough – to stop them from driving on our part of the side yard and trashing it. The neighbors across the street – silent! However, I have learned that when one neighbor starts to behave and get a clue – that someone else in the neighborhood must – there has be a “Ghetto Code of Ethics” somewhere written – pick up the slack. The award for ghetto-ness now goes to the next door neighbors.

I walked the dogs for the first time in a very long time around the neighborhood Monday night and imagine every part of your being just shaking because you are being stalked by 2 hoods and one dog. Not because I’m scared, no, because I am pissed off. Minutes prior to the run in with these two there was a group of 3 males and a dog on the opposite side my street that we passed. This was not a leisurely stroll with Fido, Fido didn’t even know how to walk on a lead. Most people do not walk their dogs here and for the few who do, you can painfully tell that they are not looking for (fill in the blank).

Back to the the disrespectful youths, they are now walking in the middle of the street, the one youth is telling his dog “get it” (meaning us) over and over which is causing the dog to get really amp-ed up. They were gaining on us and Lena is feeling the need to protect due to the out-of-control dog and Stella wants to run like hell and then thinks well I need to protect my human. Rage does not even begin to describe how I felt. I don’t think that there is a word for it. All I did was shake and try like hell not to pull on the leads. I have no tolerance for this. I have no tolerance for a couple wannabe hoods with a dog playing a game of intimidation. I have no tolerance for people who dishonor a certain type of dog breed and were doing it at that moment to me. I don’t think so little man-child!

I had to get control of this situation. I stopped and turned around, faced them, and confronted them. I stood my ground and waited for them to make a move. I know I was glaring at them because I don’t hide how I feel very well. I probably looked like a crazy lady to them, I’m okay with looking like a nut job when I need to. I was firm with my words and loud. I was hoping that some neighbors were watching. They made a wise decision and walked away. Yes, I always carry a cell phone with me for those who are wondering. I know I put myself and my dogs at risk. I realize that this could have gone a very different way. I will be damned if some disrespectful man-child thinks that intimidating people with a dog is a good idea and that this is a tool that they can use. I’m not easily intimated and I have zero tolerance these days. I continued our walk making sure I wasn’t being followed and headed for the main road. I’m not really sure if I did the right thing and yet I’m really not sure if there was anything else that could have been done. Socialization class is on Saturday, we will see if any damage has been done by this incident.

There is stuff going on in our neighborhood – again, what would appear to be normal to some is very much the opposite for us. I don’t like the vibe here, I don’t like it at all.

We will always out-last them I keep telling myself, we will always out-last them.

Time Off….WOOT!!!!!!!!!

I am doing the the happy dance. I am on vacation, that’s right V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!!!!!!!

I was asked if I would like to come in on Thursday for some training thing…..

NO!

NO! I am NOT coming in…..!

I have moved my vacation time twice already, I’m so done with the public, computer software issues, training, all of it. Homicidal thoughts have been crossing my mind way too often. Really, I need a break.

Back to the happy dance. It has been an interesting start we saved one pit bull from getting hit by a car on Sunday on our way to the store. I have never met such a dominate, ill mannered, no training, feet fixation, mouthing, growing, little girl(40 lbs) like this one. She is not what most responsible owners of this breed or any breed, would call a “good example.” Her owner, lets just say I had some very bad vibes about the whole deal, should not be allowed to own a dog.

This is the second time now that I have had regrets returning a dog to its owner. My gut tells me by her behavior and other observations that there is bad stuff going on. This was the 1st time that the husband has ever been concerned about the behavior of a dog that he has interacted with. In all honesty I kinda think she may have gotten mad because we were taking her back. Nope….she was pissed because she couldn’t mouth at his feet and had a temper tantrum like a child. For some strange reason I didn’t get nervous by her tantrum. I saw it as a type of acting out so to speak of and took the lead from the husband as he requested. I found the whole thing very strange and yet I understood this dog and her ill mannered ways. Btw, she got in our car, jumped in the front seat, in my lap and gave me sloppy bully kisses when we first picked her up. I believe due to her being in “her” environment, street, home set off the behavior. Interesting, I find all of it interesting.

“Can I rake your leaves and have them?” I really asked my neighbor this yesterday because when I see leaves I see compost. I know it’s a strange way of thinking but I can’t help it. All leaves to me, besides smelling good and crunching under your feet make me think of compost. This is a key element to a great garden. Since we have embraced this urban farming thang, I need leaves because I really hate paying for compost. I keep telling my one landscaper friend to dump all his leaves in my drive because I really need them. Really, 8 – 50 gallon garbage cans packed full of leaves is nothing which is what we raked yesterday. I need a huge truck load. I am coveting my other neighbor whose yard may yield about 15 garbage cans full.

So why are we so focused on leaves….well the husband and I have only been cleaning out the back 40 when time has allowed and getting it ready for spring. Let me put it this way, we are cleaning and looking at possible designs. Since we are moving away from a yard that “looks pretty” to a yard that is “pretty” and has purpose “food” the clean slate issue keeps coming up. We have decided that 80% of our landscaping will be finding a new home. We figure that we need about 10 yards of compost to amend the soil of the two zones that will be created next year. There will be a total of 4 zones when all is said and done. I still have much research to do because permaculture is somewhat different than having regular gardens and I’m okay with that.

Projects to finish while on vacation is the office old closet area and re-purpose a 50+ year old shipping crate for the bathroom. Small projects, low cost and large impact.

Thank You…..Mr. Landlord(s)

Besides a whole lot of weeding and planting there have been some other things that have going on in the hood. People have been moving into this old neighborhood courtesy of the many “For Rent” signs and “word of mouth networking” that goes around here. Word of mouth networking is how you keep your money on the “down low”.

The section of the street where the husband and I live, OWN – not STAY, has become infested with trash. Non respecting, ghetto-trash. It was one thing when there was one family – I think they are a family – not so sure who really lives there still to this date. Hey, at least these folks I can work with.

Now there are more homes rented out and they bring others with them. I have no tolerance left in me for ignorant people. The whole vibe of our street has changed within a week. I think an exorcism is in order, along with a Rabbi, Voodoo Priestess, Minster, Bishop, Reverend and whomever I missed. Cleanse the bad mojo that has been bestowed upon us quickly I say.

Rain, Weeds, & Maple Seeds

There has been days of this:

Due to much of this:

You have to admit it’s pretty darn awesome.

Gardens to plant:

Many pots and baskets to fill with flowers:

Major yard clean up of weeds, weeds and more weeds. Even more clean up of the seed dropping from the Maple Trees. This would be the neighbors Maple Trees that surround us and also the weeds because the rental next door just cut the lawn – for the first time this year in late May 2010 – this would be the back yard.

Now look how pretty it is. I know it still wasn’t done when I took this photo – As of yesterday the whole entire back 40 is weed free.

Which is why we went through 5 yards of black goodness – that would be pure compost.

Oh and how can I forget the Greek Spring Festival, which was the first festival of the year. I wish I had some of those honey buns now.

There have been many conversations from Ghetto said neighbors, which include endless hours of the following Ghetto-Speak.
“F*#k” – insert whatever comes to mind that makes no damn sense.
“She’s a Bitch” – use best ghetto slang you can muster up.
“She’s a Skank” – is that even a real word?

Now repeat for the next 7 hours.

That leads to the husband and myself beating a path to the nearest, quietest, restaurant and enjoying these.

I guess it would be fair to say that the husband and I have been a bit outdoorsy of late. We have literally been covered in some sort of dirt, mud, compost for the last 2 months when mother nature found it fitting. I need to have a talk with mother nature about 86 degree days and high, nasty humidity. Working in the back 40 feels like the damn Amazon Jungle complete with bugs. Ewww.

There are more photo’s here, and more to come.

The husband: I want to order 4 more yards of compost in.
Me: Okay, what are we going to do with the rest of it?
The husband: I want to re-seed the back 40 area, after I cook and kill the weeds that have taken over the grass.
Me: What about, cook it, kill it, no grass and we just landscape it? Bring in a River Birch and a couple White Pines, thin the triangles out and finally just redo it.
The husband: I like that Idea, I like that Idea a lot. Think about how we tie it all together.
Me: Okay.

What the hell was I thinking – OY! Yes, a new project for fall.

A Different Approach

How did you spend your Friday?

Here in the Rust Belt we started off our day with a trip to my in-laws. They needed some help with stopping the leaks from their 30 year old windows in their sun room. I told the husband that we were going to spend at least 5 hours putting plastic up to only have it come off over the next couple months because of the way their windows are. Did I mention also that they are not going to be real happy when the paint on the moulding peels off when they take the plastic down. How do I know this? Been there and much cursing has been done in the past by me.

So we assessed the windows, I tightened up some screws on a window they couldn’t get closed and explained to my father-in-law what we have experienced in the past with stopping leaky windows. When the husband and I told him that we just built all these interior window storm he told us to do it before we finished what all this entails. Our list of things to do had just increased.

It was a rainy day and we were off. A stop to the vets – dogs nails trimmed. A stop to the lumber yard to check on baseboard mouldings. Went to lunch to fuel up. Off to Lowes for materials. Picked up tools at our house and off to build interior window frames for the in-laws.

This time we tried a different approach – MDF. Well lets just stay it was interesting to work with and we found out rather quickly we had a design flaw.

Can I tell you that MDF is weak, just weak. These windows are big, 55″ x 61″, the size was causing the center to bow. So it was time to put on our thinking caps and figure out how to beef up the weak-ass material. We tossed around some ideas and I’m the kinda person that like to take the path of least trouble. I suggested that we buddy up the scrap on the bottom and top to give it some support. I wasn’t sure if this would fix it but it was a hell of a lot better than adding a shit load of cross sections.

We used the scrap that was left over and centered the extra support pieces. It fixed the bow and we were off again and on track. We have 2 more left to build and my in-laws sun room will no longer be freezing cold.

In embracing using a different approach last night the ghetto neighbors across the street had a little party. I don’t care if people throw parties, it’s Friday night, it was around 10:00 p.m., have a party. I do have major issues when the bass is turned up so loud that it is vibrating my basement door of our home. Our whole entire house felt like one huge vibrator – it was humming.

So I put on my coat, my boots and I walk across the street because I really don’t feel like calling the cops – I just want them to turn the bass down. A simple request, No?

There are two people on the sidewalk and I really don’t care who they are. I ask very nicely, “can you please turn down the bass”? I explain the whole vibrating thing.

The guy starts to give me a little attitude at first, the girl interjects and tells me no problem and told the guy no she right and the girl says to me “I’ll turn it down, mommie”.

“Mommie”, this is an interesting word in the urban world, it means many different things. It has not been the first time I have been called this. I had to pull up the urban dictionary on the PC to make sure that she didn’t just disrespect me.

This word means respect, the person who is saying it is being submissive. That part bothers me, “submissive”.

The booming bass stopped, they actually turned it off. The party’s noise level came way down and by 11:00 p.m. it was silent.

A different approach indeed!

Bring on the Wet Stuff – Rain that is!

It’s 6:00 a.m. and I hear the sound of water overflowing a gutter.

The husband is up, dressed and down stairs. I hear the front door open then I drift off back to dream land. Well, that lasted a whole 20 minutes when I hear it pouring down rain and the overflowing gutter – this would be the neighbors gutter not ours – I figure I better get up and go check things out.

There shall be nothing more beautiful than the reflection of water in a rain garden. Yes, even in the dark.

There is nothing more pleasing that a swale that runs and removes unwanted water so it may not end up in your drain tiles in which your sump has to work extra hard to pump it out. This my friends is how my morning started and indeed to was going to be a beautiful day – Mother Nature you can bring it on – rain that is.

Mother Nature did bring it on and the husband shot these of the swale this morning while I was at work. Yes, in the rain which is why there are no photos of the rain garden. Water and a camera not made for such wet outings don’t mix well. The camera is working – kinda – at the moment since it had enough time to dry out – sort of. For your pleasure as well as mine, and a huge thank you to “B”, one working swale.

As I write this my ghetto neighbors are having a ghetto moment. I will not repeat what is being shouted, from across the street, for your ears may burn and fall off.

Who Turned on the Light?

When the husband and I first moved here there seemed to be this aura around our home. It was this beacon for strays who had lost their way. Some how these animals would find their way to us and we in turn would do everything we could for their well being. Helping them find their way back home or a new home.

I’m not sure what is different but since we had dug up the front yard it is happening again. I’m thinking it is possible that the last bit of negative energy had finally been shoveled from our home.

Family, Friends and Ghetto Trash

It has been a very long week which started last Friday and will not end until tonight. Work has sucked the life out of me but I am off till Wednesday. I intend to relish every single second of my time off.

Our weekends have been filled with dinning out, checking out a new winery, family obligations (Easter), birthday parties and ghetto neighbors.

Friday night was one of my closest girlfriend’s 40th birthday party. I was surprised she went for a party because she is really not that kind of girl – does not care to be the center of attention – that, my friends, is why she and I have been friends since she was 16 years old. Some how her significant other talked her into a party. At this party I made a new friend called Mojito. Now I have had Mojito’s in the past and they were “okay”, but her man makes the best freaking Mojito’s that I have ever tasted. The perfect blend of simple syrup to mint to liquor to soda and lime. There will have to be a Mojito’s party this summer – the guest of honor with be my friend Mojito.

Today is “little man’s” 1st birthday – it was actually April 15th but we are doing the big celebration today. “Little Man” is our Step-Grandmunchkin. The Husband was married once before – raised a stepson, hence why we are Step-Grandparents. It’s very humbling and an honor to be held in such high regard. Bring on “Elmo” – aka – baby crack.

The new winery is a a beautiful venue. However, the wine sucked. I have never had wine that gave me cotton mouth, cleared my sinuses, made me feel like I just did a shot of espresso, did not deliver in taste and what the heck was that aftertaste. Since the husband and I drink very different types of wine I expected his to have some legs and be full bodied but his wine was just thin and he had the same effects as mine did. The husband and I were very focused on what made this wine produce these effects. Oh well, we will not be going back.

For some not so enlightening news, the neighbors across the street are “Ghetto Trash”. For some strange reason they seem to think that is it okay to have girlie, cat fight, smack downs at 10:00 at night that seem to involve 15 plus people – that needed to play chicken in the street with the cars – while screaming trash ghetto speak at one another seeing who can ghetto speak the loudest – while a ghetto cat fight on the porch was taking place.

Yep, you know I called the police – I have no shame – I have zero tolerance left. I called it “training time” – it is time to train the new neighbors proper etiquette of living in this “neighbor- Hood”. Oddly enough it has been very silent all week, I can’t imagine why since these people have partied it up in 30 degree weather till 2:00 a.m. on most porch squatting nights. Dare I think – nah it is best not to go there and dream such dreams.