Here's another red admiral butterfly, fluttering around in our garden. We won't see these critters after just a few more weeks -- they'll be winging their way south to spend the winter in continental Europe and North Africa. It's hard to imagine tiny butterflies migrating across the English Channel, but that's what they do, according to the experts.
This one rather stubbornly sat in a position that made it hard to photograph with its wings spread.
I spent most of yesterday doing laundry and reading. I finished "The Last Cuentista," a recent Newbery winner that I hadn't yet read. A guy at work loaned me his copy and I felt compelled to finish it so I could get it back to him. I liked it -- a book that interweaves Hispanic folklore and storytelling traditions with science fiction. It was unlike anything I've ever read, and I would definitely recommend it to kids who are looking for sci-fi.
Now I'm going to tackle "Mecca," a novel by Susan Straight about Southern California that I read about in The New Yorker. I checked it out in June to read over the summer, so it's been in the stack for a while! It's the last of my so-called "summer books."
Mrs. Russia told me the other day that the caretaker of the property behind us, a large apartment complex, knocked on her door. He wanted to complain about the condition of the trees and brush in the back of our garden, which faces their building. You'll remember that we consider that our "wildlife area" and I don't do any cutting or trimming back there.
It is true that the trees -- a pair (I think?) of old elders -- are spindly looking and perhaps dying in a few spots. And they have become heavily burdened with ivy. So I e-mailed our tree surgery company to ask if they could give us an estimate on cleaning up that area. I don't want it too clean because I want to leave some bushy growth for the birds and to screen our garden from those buildings. But it's a bigger job than I could do myself, particularly with the equipment we have. If they have to remove the elders we'll ask the landlords to help pay for it.
It's always something!
Aren't you supposed to get the landlord's permission before cutting back trees or cutting them down?
ReplyDeleteJust think what you'll be able to plant with that addition of sunlight.
ReplyDeleteMrs Russia could have just been making it up.
ReplyDeleteI had the same thought as Yorkshire Pudding, given the Mrs. Russia tales we've heard before! Yes, it's the landlord's responsibility to remove trees, I would think. Good luck. That butterfly shot is beautiful. I don't see nearly the number I used to.
ReplyDeleteThe caretaker needs to be referred to the property owner before anything else happens. They don't seem to know who that is, if they think it's the Russians. It's not up to the tenant to make those decisions, nor to pay for them. I have spoken!
ReplyDeleteI hope you're able to keep some of the "wild" while making it more presentable for the apartments - but I would definitely balk at anything that made my yard easy to see from their windows!
ReplyDeleteOh, man. Everyone sure has an opinion on those trees. It's funny how we all get invested in our blog communities' lives and doings. And yet, we do!
ReplyDeleteI would speak with the man and give him your landlord's information. That is DEFINITELY not a tenant's responsibility.
ReplyDeleteMy response would have been sorry you don't like it but we do and since it's our garden you'll just have to get over it. I certainly wouldn't call a service in to clean it up or take the trees down. rather rude I think to come tell you (or Ms Russia) that I don't like my view of your back garden so you must clean it up. Do nothing I say.
ReplyDeleteWe have a "wild" area on two sides of our property that screen us from the road during the summer time. If the neighbor across the valley came and complained, I would probably politely decline to thin them out. Having a large apartment complex looking into the back of my property would be unacceptable.
ReplyDeleteYou should do what you want to with those trees and don't worry about the big apartment complex.
ReplyDeleteAre you able to cut things down when you are renting the property?
ReplyDeleteI am surprised that you are expected to have those trees trimmed or cut down. Did you plant them? I would think it is the property owner's responsibility to manage that kind of stuff.
ReplyDeleteThe big boys always think they can push us around. Clean the area up a bit but keep it. You get many critters in that area.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like the trees provide a nice blind between you and the complex behind you. You have a nice private garden. A bit of strategic thinning is good tree maintenance. I'd want a tree expert to make a recommendation that supports your privacy in the garden.
ReplyDelete"It's always something" so, so true. I thought renting would be so much simpler than owning but it's pretty much the same except that some things the landlord can pay for.
ReplyDeleteI have my fingers crossed that your good weather will last at least at least two more weeks.
We had a Red Admiral wings outstretched on the outside of the dimpled glass of the bathroom window. Quite a sight but impossible to photograph.
ReplyDeleteMrs. R seems like the manipulative type, just saying. How did they get her number to start with? Houses are indeed always something. I've gotten good at ignoring stuff that I don't want to deal with.
ReplyDeleteI think bird and butterfly migrations are fascinating. The first that always comes to my mind is the Monarch Butterfly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_butterfly_migration
ReplyDeleteI'd tell the apartment complex that your overgrown trees shield you from the view of his hideous building.
ReplyDeleteEven if Mrs R did get that information from the caretaker, it wasn't necessarily volunteered by him but instead something she said and encouraged him to agree with her about. I have a hard time believing he would just volunteer that information to a tenant of an unrelated building. Ah well, I'm quite sure you can sort it out to your satisfaction without help from us, lol. As I mentioned recently, my own brother and I strongly disagree about how much screening should be between properties - I like a lot of privacy, and shelter for insects and small animals, and he wanted to clean it down to the ground.
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