25. Life Gets in the Way

When you aren't looking, life gets in the way.  Our wonderful landlady is remodeling our little cottage.  Her very sweet son-in-law is doing all of the work.  He is amazingly versatile, competent and quick to boot!  We will have a laundry room and a much larger kitchen.  New cabinets in the kitchen plus one completely remodeled bathroom!  New siding outside and all new double-paned windows through out.  Did I mention replacing the plumbing? Our trickling faucets will soon be flowing fast enough to make the dish soap foam! 

It is dizzying, I can assure you.  She has always been a good person to rent from.  However, having been property owners ourselves, I must admit we are exceptional renters.  Prideful? Perhaps, but like most folks, we just like things looking nice.  It is, after all, where we live.  I learned many years ago that it is easier to keep the place at least tidy than it is to cry that someone saw it a mess. 

The moniker of Gopher Hill Cottage is well deserved.  The yard is full of gopher craters which makes it hard to mow, let alone walk on.  Bob, however, is persistent.  Every so often he fills the craters with dirt and trudges on.  The new self propelling "Cub Cadet" mower has really been a boon.  It at least crawls out of the holes and he is spared having to push it.  For some reason, known only to him, I suppose, he finds great satisfaction in mowing the property.  We have two large meadows and a very large yard, all of which were in a sad state when we moved in.  The previous renters were raised by wolves from all accounts.  Bob always digs with trepidation for fear of turning over a spade of dirt containing human remains.  They never paid the trash and when the out buildings were full, took to burying everything.

I must admit for all his hard work he has made the view from our living room window spectacular indeed!  He loves the iris and this is the time of year that he is paid in full for his endeavors.  I love to see them in the spring, but, and it is a big BUT, when they are in between blooming times they are the messiest things!  Plus, you have to remove only the completely dries leave because they derive nutrition from the leaves as they dry.  That leaves the beds in a messy state of affairs. Ah, well, I guess it's not really so bad for now they are really starting to produce those lovely blooms.

We are leaving our haven this morning to drive to Anaheim to see my dad.  He is in the hospital with pneumonia.  They say it isn't life threatening, but at 92 one is never quite sure. As you know, sometimes life or the lack of it gets in the way.