Monday, October 18, 2010

Location, Location, Location

This is what I see in the morning before I go to work.
Just beyond the end of our street is a fabulous view of the Vegas Valley (its really an alluvial plane, but that's not so catchy...). The lights really sparkle at night - this photo was about a half hour after sun-up. Sometimes it is cloudy where we are, but at the same time, we can see the sun reflecting off the tall shiny buildings on the strip in the distance.

The valley is like a saucer and our neighborhood is up on the rim of the saucer, so we can see all the way across the metro area.

I call our new neighborhood the Shady Rest. There are real trees instead of palm trees and much more interaction amongst the neighbors, since everyone is kind of 'cheek by jowl', (although, I think we have more yard than some of the new construction going up, these days).

It is a very modest neighborhood, but friendly. There is quite a list of rules, but not all of them seem to be enforced.

One that is enforced, quite vigorously, however, is 'no working on cars'. Apparently some time back, the EPA paid a visit and found that not everyone was careful about disposing of fluids, so the ban was put in place to avoid 'chronic infraction' status. That is a deep disappointment to The Mister, as he was looking forward to puttering with the Falcon, since it has been out of the paint shop for a very short time. We are researching alternatives for him, since there is not so much to keep him busy with our small space.

One of the rules that seems to be less important is 'no clutter in the yard' and 'only lawn furniture on the patio'.

This is a neighbor across the street:

You can't see in the photo that the 'destination' sign on the motor home says "Twilight Zone". It is kind of a hippie bus with ALL kinds of things in the yard. You can just see the refrigerator to the left of the bus. I don't want to be rude and stare, but if there was a roof over it all, I think it could be on "Hoarders"!

Most of the other neighbors are very tidy, although there are quite a few that have gone a bit overboard with plastic flowers as landscaping.

Since clutter is not against the law, we enjoy the eccentricity aspect.

At least there is no HOA!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Settling in

Well, we are in and it is feeling like home. A small home, but not so bad.

I have learned to judge the traffic and make the call as to whether the highway or surface streets are the most efficient for the commute. The kitties are getting used to the sounds around us, no longer startling at the wind or the barking dogs in the trailerhood.

And, I have my iris in the ground!

I wasn't going to fool with them.

I had dug the special ones and taken them to safe haven at Dsis's house in CO. The only ones left were multiples of nameless clumps that were dry and ignored. It was the last trip to the house to pick up the kitties in their carriers and mop the entryway on my way out the door. I looked at the beds and grabbed a plastic dish pan and a grocery store plastic bag out of the back seat. I dug the plants with my bare hands and took them with me, thinking that I would get some big flower pots and put a couple in each.

The next day when I got home from work, I was thrilled to see that The Mister had fetched the planter boxes and had them installed and ready for planting!

I think that it is likely that I will have some bloom in the spring, since we have a couple more months of warm growing season ahead. We don't have irrigation here, so I will water them with the hose, but they are next to the sidewalk and I will pass them everyday, and that will remind me to give them a drink.

And by spring, maybe my hands and fingernails will have recovered from being used as garden implements!