Out Your Back Door

[3fingers]

Hopefully it won't look this barren a year from now.

It's a long term process. When we bought our current home it had been owned by the same family for 60 years. The old folks hadn't been able to keep up with it for some time. I told my wife that it would take us 5-10 years to get it reasonably close to where we wanted it to be. I don't think that she believed me. Obviously the first couple of years made a huge difference in appearance just by cleaning up the yard, etc. It has been 7 years. We might be close in 2 more years.

 

[Zombie_61]

This is it, not much to see but we're working on beautifying a little once spring gets here...Hopefully it won't look this barren a year from now.

I rather like the "barren" look. In our little corner of southern California half an acre is considered to be a fairly sizable lot for a residential property so, by comparison, most lots look even smaller because the owners tend to almost fill them with any variety of plant life which takes up whatever open space they would have otherwise. Don't misunderstand me--I like plants and trees, and around here they stay green nearly year-round. But some people get carried away with planting things here and there, and soon their small yards just look cluttered. I don't like clutter, so "barren" gets my approval.

 

[William G.]

It's a long term process. When we bought our current home it had been owned by the same family for 60 years. The old folks hadn't been able to keep up with it for some time. I told my wife that it would take us 5-10 years to get it reasonably close to where we wanted it to be. I don't think that she believed me. Obviously the first couple of years made a huge difference in appearance just by cleaning up the yard, etc. It has been 7 years. We might be close in 2 more years.

I see what you mean. Val and I started planting flowers last year before the humidity got so awful, we sewed grass seeds, we bought wood to build a swing — and only a few of the flowers survived, most of the grass didn’t take, the swing still hasn’t been hung. It’s a slow and steady process for sure, and it’s been a learning process for us.

I rather like the "barren" look. In our little corner of southern California half an acre is considered to be a fairly sizable lot for a residential property so, by comparison, most lots look even smaller because the owners tend to almost fill them with any variety of plant life which takes up whatever open space they would have otherwise. Don't misunderstand me--I like plants and trees, and around here they stay green nearly year-round. But some people get carried away with planting things here and there, and soon their small yards just look cluttered. I don't like clutter, so "barren" gets my approval.

That’s valid. And the view is much prettier when there are leaves in the trees.

 

[GHT]

I rather like the "barren" look. In our little corner of southern California half an acre is considered to be a fairly sizable lot for a residential property so, by comparison, most lots look even smaller because the owners tend to almost fill them with any variety of plant life which takes up whatever open space they would have otherwise. Don't misunderstand me--I like plants and trees, and around here they stay green nearly year-round. But some people get carried away with planting things here and there, and soon their small yards just look cluttered. I don't like clutter, so "barren" gets my approval.

Come and tell that to my missus, her creative streak in dressmaking extends to the garden.

 

[2jakes]

Come and tell that to my missus, her creative streak in dressmaking extends to the garden.
View attachment 151673

I like the "clutter" look. My grndma had peach, orange,lime,trees and one pomengrade tree in the back and banana
plants all over....& I was Tarzan!

 

[Zombie_61]

I like the "clutter" look. My grndma had peach, orange,lime,trees and one pomengrade tree in the back and banana plants all over....& I was Tarzan!

When I was growing up we had nine avocado trees, an orange tree, a peach tree, a nectarine tree, a fig tree, a rose bush garden, three small lemon trees, two smallish strawberry patches (approximately 6' in diameter), two banana plants and a variety of "tropical" plants in the three-foot space along the front of the house, and, creating a border of sorts between the street and the yard, a patch of ivy five feet wide and 140 feet long, bisected by our double-wide driveway that can accommodate four cars easily. All on approximately half an acre of land. And that's not counting the space occupied by the house or the 8' x 8' chicken coop in the back yard.

So, yeah, as a kid playing Lord of the Jungle it was great. Trees to climb, fresh fruit to eat, fresh eggs, and so on. But as an adult it all becomes "maintenance" and it's a real time burglar.

 

[Bushman]

 

[BobHufford]

This fellow has been here all day and I don't like the way he's keeps looking at our Toy Poodle puppy.

 

[Woodtroll]

This fellow has been here all day and I don't like the way he's keeps looking at our Toy Poodle puppy.

View attachment 153560

Those barred owls are big boys; I imagine they have big appetites too. Best keep a wary eye on him!

 

[3fingers]

We have a big one that hangs around here from time to time. When he's around we watch our mini Doxie closely. I wish I could convince him to hang out somewhere else.

 

[BobHufford]

It’s still hangin’ around...

 

[Fading Fast]

Looked out our back window yesterday and saw this (note, that building is about 15 stories high):

I also have a really cool video of the crane lifting (what we think is) part of a massive air-conditioning unit to the roof, but when I tried to load it here, Fedora kept giving me an error message since I only have the video on my laptop and not on a host site. It's a shame, cause it's really neat to see it in action.

 

[BobHufford]

The sun coming up over the hilltop in the fog put a magical light on our little valley this morning.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

The sun coming up over the hilltop in the fog put a magical light on our little valley this morning.

Bob i really enjoy these posts of yours. You’re little part of the world, as they say, gives me a yearning to get out and do, before they do me. Your game camera makes me want to hunt, your little stream makes me want to fly fish. There’s serenity in your posts that make me feel younger than i am.
Thank you for sharing my friend. Keep it up.
Bowen

 

[BobHufford]

Thanks (@AbbaDatDeHat ) Bowen! You're welcome here any time.

 

[Zombie_61]

Bob i really enjoy these posts of yours. You’re little part of the world, as they say, gives me a yearning to get out and do, before they do me. Your game camera makes me want to hunt, your little stream makes me want to fly fish. There’s serenity in your posts that make me feel younger than i am.
Thank you for sharing my friend. Keep it up.
Bowen

"Serenity". Perfect description.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Backyard Snow Drift Crab & Weeping Japanese Maple.....

 

[Fading Fast]

⇧ Those are some beautiful trees.

 

[BobHufford]

Things are starting to look a bit different...

 

[Desert dog]

Things are starting to look a bit different...

View attachment 169599

I love that Ford tractor! Are you operating the excavator? The thumb sure is handy when picking up debris.

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