I know I'm repeating myself here: another Sunday, another day out with Olga. What can I say? Our lives develop a pattern of routine, do they not?
Yesterday we went to the West Heath, Sandy Heath and Hampstead Heath Extension. The weather was spectacular. We stayed out about three hours and I got the dog good and exhausted...
...but not so exhausted that she didn't need a good scratch from an available brick wall.
And needless to say, we weren't the only humans and dogs out and about on such a nice day. Check out this crowd!
While I was out with Olga, Dave was in the garden, and things are looking impossibly neat and manicured back there, at least by my standards. It's amazing. I helped Dave mow and weed when I got home, but he redoes everything I do because I'm not thorough enough, in his judgement!
We mowed down the forget-me-nots in the center of the yard. They were looking very weedy. I hope we left them long enough to re-seed so they come back next year.
I had an extremely annoying conversation with our next-door neighbor, who is constantly harping about how many rubbish bins we have (she also keeps hers in our driveway -- don't get me started) and finds our gardening wanting. She declared that she's going to remove a limb from our walnut tree because it hangs over her property ("that tree is only good for the squirrels, anyway"), and urged us to have the entire thing cut down. Then she told me all about how the previous tenants "did so much" in the garden. "I mean, I know you do some work there too, but..."
I think it's best if I just steer clear of her.
I hate grumpy neighbours! We had one in Antwerp who complained that our cats walked over their glass roof. As if we could stop them! We secretly threw slugs over the wall into their garden to punish them.
ReplyDeleteDon't cut down the walnut tree, please. Cities (and our lungs) need trees so badly, even London. And cutting down a Walnut brings bad luck according to some ancient myth - ok I made that up.
ReplyDeleteOur neighbours think we are nuts because we collect ours and their (!) gras cuttings for the compost and we use leaves from our and any other trees for mulching, when we could buy perfectly ok fertilisers in any garden center.
MWA: Ha! I love the slug method. The slugs like it too, I'm sure. :)
ReplyDeleteSabine: Don't worry -- I would never think of cutting it down!
Beautiful photo of Olga!
ReplyDeleteUGH. I would steer clear of her too. Some people just can't seem to mind their own business! :)
We were in a gardening place yesterday and they had signs up at the cash register that said, "St. Augustine grass will die unless it you apply pesticide and fungicide to it weekly."
ReplyDeleteAnd the same thing was printed on our receipt.
I am still boggling over that. Who would DO that? Plant something you had to poison every week?
That doesn't have much to do with your post except f**k St. Augustine grass and f**k your neighbor. Not literally, of course.
Tell her the limbs provide shade for when you dig the graves in the yard. Then cross your eyes and moan. Then walk away. Limp slightly.
ReplyDeleteProblem solved.
I'm afraid I would have words with that neighbor. something along the lines of sorry you don't approve of our gardening but we don't do it for your pleasure. I'd also ask her when she is going to stop putting her trash cans on my driveway every time she complains about something. anyway, considering the state of the garden when y'all moved in, the previous tenants couldn't have done that much.
ReplyDeleteSounds to me like your neighbor is a little on the passive aggressive side. That's always fun to deal with.
ReplyDeleteWe had a neighbor like that ( a bit worse because she was going to call the police because I did not sweep the street) We ignored her , she couldn't take it and moved, sold her house and disappeared. Old biddy! Love the salt and pepper pooches photo, and of course all of the familiar photos in your previous post. So good!I am also familiar with Dave's "style"...perfection!
ReplyDeleteBoy, Dave would lose his mind with my "help." On the other hand he'd probably just tell me to never mind & he'd do it himself, which would be just fine with me :)
ReplyDeleteLOL at Utah Dog - I double-dog dare you to say that to her!
I'm glad you explained what Olga was doing in that picture - I was afraid she might be drunk or something.
An Olga book. Still agitating for that...
ReplyDeleteI sympathize about the neighbour but love the comments, especially utahDOG's :) I am not a picky gardener but I know someone who is. Her zeal makes her an unreliable companion - she will "forget" she's supposed to meet someone and as way of excuse just says "well, I HAD to finish it"!
ReplyDelete