Don't Know, Don't Care

During our morning walk, big Akita guy and I noticed a tiny brown Chihuahua scurry across the street and disappear down a driveway. We peeked, couldn't see the little guy, hoped he found his way home, and moved on. Nearly an hour later, we noticed him again. Instead of looking like he was home, he looked cold and unhappy, so chancing upon another dog-walking neighbor who lived across the street from the escapee in question, I asked if she knew where he belonged. No luck. Hoping to lure the little guy toward me, I tied the scary big dog to a nearby fence and set about trying to dog whisper - which, in spite of my avid love for all things scaled, feathered and furred - I'm not very successful with. Little guy scurried around a hedge into the adjacent driveway. Just as I'm about to follow, a woman comes out of her house. Relieved, I ask, "Oh, is that your little tan Chihuahua?" and her response completely floored me. "Don't know, don't care. This is my property and I don't like people on it." Yes, I was trespassing by being two feet down her driveway. OK, I was just hoping to help the little dog.... Again the response, "Don't know, don't care." Well thanks, you're a lovely person.

Turns out, she admits she does know the dog and knows the dog lives next door. Great, sez I, and proceed to knock on the door. No answer. I leave. The whole time she berating me for being nosy and I couldn't understand what else her tirade was about. So in the interests of thought experiments, here's mine:

It's Christmas eve, and everyone else I met on the walk was cheerful and wished us well. Maybe her Christmas is going poorly and she was feeling super cranky.

She sees me everyday walking my dog past her house and her two dogs who like to hang out in the window and bark at us. I always say hello to the dogs to acknowledge them and she's decided we make her feel guilty she never walks her dogs further than her front yard to do their business.

Maybe she is having issues with her neighbor and the dog and decided to take it out on me. 

Maybe she's just batshit crazy. Merry Christmas and ho ho ho.

Cold Weather Heats Up the Imagination

For SoCal it's cold, though normal people don't find this daunting, of late, I do. So, if it isn't conducive weather for having hands in ice cold water getting labels off bottles or puttering in the garden, the next best thing is getting ideas for future projects. There's still a good deal of tile work to accomplish and it's always nice to curl up with a good book or a computer for ideas. The side stoop and back porch need doing/finishing. This is what the front porch looks like:

For the back and side, it seems something less formal is in order and a day spent with pictures is a good way to start. While in Japan, I noticed the train station had the most amazing mosaic wall. It'd be fun to design a sun motif and use the asymmetry to good effect. On the other hand, as the sidewalk brickwork shows below, geometrics can look amazing too. Decisions, decisions. 

Pinterest and Other Addictions

I realized the other day that I have a serious addiction. Whether Pinterest found me or the other way around, is not certain. No one can accuse me of being an early adopter for things Internet, though I do try to stay informed of the latest apps, social media sites and all the wailing that surrounds them. In the main, however, mostly I try out what I think is of practical use and pretty much ignore the rest. And then came Pinterest. As the person responsible for my work's social media, I've made a fair stab at Facebook, Twitter and blogging. All pretty straightforward. When it was suggested we open a Pinterest account, I groaned at the idea of more work. Even though I was happy enough strolling through the site for program or craft ideas, it really didn't grab my attention away from the all the other things that called out for immediate action. 

And then, it seduced me. I was looking for a mortar recipe for cementing wine bottles through Google's image search (who here doesn't start out that way?). Those searches kept linking me to Pinterest, and that kept linking me to other Pinterst boards or pins or whatever the heck they're called. As I descended further down the rabbit hole, I told myself what all addicts say, "I can quit at any time." And that must be true - though quitting is not on the list for today. The siren song of flitting from one image to another in rapid succession is just too strong. Discovering another blog of like-minded eco-nuts is simply too tempting. So I set limits: "Only 10 minutes at lunch. " I mutter. "No more than 1/2 an hour after work," I exclaim. And, like most addicts, those limits get blown.

Well, it could be worse I suppose. I could also be addicted to taking pictures of gardens all the time. 

Whoops! Yes - more pictures of gardens.

The garden is still very raw as it is newly planted, but the 2 tortoises with the wind vane as the centerpiece of this front yard was just to good to ignore.

Did I mention I'm a sucker for shiny cobalt blue?

Too bad they aren't ready to pull up the lawn yet,
but making the wonderful border reduces overspray
to almost zero.

This charmer with one ear is the only cat I can keep at my house. He keeps an eye on the front door for us.

And, just in case you're wondering, we still don't have a Pinterest account at work. If we did, I'd never get anything else done all day and that would be very bad. Mmmm....

Successes

It seems I'm usually writing about projects in progress or projects in my dreams. Well, there are finished bits around the yard, so don't think I'm simply incapable of finishing anything. Though --- truth to tell, there is always the prospect of endless tweaking - a little detail here - a bit added or removed over there. Though friends kindly refer to my work mode as "organic," Attention Deficit Disorder would probably be more accurately descriptive.

So let's look at some successes. I did manage to get the pile of broken concrete sorted and installed by the edge of the footpath, along with a large portion of the brick pile. With dollops of black river rock in between the pavers, it's a successful start. The challenge is to figure out what to do with the rest of what I've got. The biggest concern is the curve in the footpath (not shown) as that happens to fall at a critical section that needs to be sturdy enough for the yard waste bin rolling over it. No doubt something will come to me...I just hope it doesn't take another ten years to materialize.

Many people walking by comment on my side yard, which is set up for the local critters to enjoy. Years ago, what little lawn remained was torn out and mulched with free, I repeat, free, wood chip mulch from the tree company. They are only too happy to dump their chips at your house rather than pay to dump them. Anyhow, the side yard is our buffer to a busy street. Since it is somewhat private because of the large hedge, squirrels, banded pigeons, crows, songbirds, doves, the odd coyote or two, and any other critter who happens to need water, nuts or seed is welcome. The bed frame was hanging out in our back yard for a long time. It seemed so obvious that it needed to be a vegetable bed (get it?) that it was put together in one day. The joke is that nary a vegetable has yet to grow there. Maybe this coming year? The table at the foot of the bed was also hanging out unproductively in the back yard, so naturally it was pressed into service to complete the vignette.

It seems that just when I need something, I manage to find it on the street waiting for trash pick up. The bird feeder is hanging from a birdcage stand someone was throwing away. The bird bath is on a discarded plant stand and the pot with seed in it is on a stray garden stool. Seriously, if you're into recycling at all, just walk a dog around your neighborhood and you'll find the most amazing things to work with. 

The banded pigeon is one of my favorite visitors and I've noticed some amazing things about them. At first we only had the one and unlike the garden variety city pigeon, they are very large and heavy. After a few weeks, more of them came and now we have 20 - 30 at a time. One arrives first and scopes out the place. Then, as if they all got a text that it was safe, the others come in looking like a B-52 bomber squadron. They are so heavy you can almost hear the Crape Myrtle groan as they land on its delicate branches. They hold their own against cheeky squirrels and commanding crows. It all makes for happy viewing out the kitchen window. Frankly, it's more uplifting than the morning news and makes a great start to the day. That and coffee.

So there are a few of the successes that will still get tweaked and fussed with, but are really done and everything is working. At least the critter population is happy.