You loved it in the winter...

my house in the summer
Originally uploaded by colclc

Now check it out in the summer.
Sure, this picture was taking in very early summer, before the drought killed all of my grass. Also, my hanging flower baskets aren't nearly as cute in this picture (although they are there if you look for them) as they are now.

Check out my brother raking, the Deucester looking all picturesque, and in the far right, my push mower.

the piles of brush remind me of a funny story. okay, so my city sends me a note on my water bill in the spring, it says Brush Pick up begins April 15. So, put my pile of brush out near the curb like my neighbors have done. The brush people never come. I wait. and wait. finally! half of one pile gets taken away... what? only a half of one pile? I have two piles!
I talk to Dee from across the street and she tells me that eventually they will come.
I wait. no brush fairies arrive.
brush is killing my lawn!
move brush to drive way (ah the luxury of the two car driveway. far more charming in the summer than in the winter with snow shoveling doubled)
still nothing.
Now I am pissy, so I move the piles to the street. Not very nice, but I just don't care, I want it to be clear that I expect this to be taken away!
It sits there.
sigh.
Then, one day in early June my brother comes over to earn some money by doing yard work. I come back and snap this picture. He moved those piles back to the driveway! augh! nearly two months worth of battle with the brush pick up people down the drain!
so, resigned, Matty and I gathered it all up and took it to the city yard waste disposal.
Wait! hold on! this is for yard waste only! all over the place are spray painted signs that say NO BRUSH
Ahhh, my chance for retaliation on those who have spurned my brush.
Needless to say, we dumped that brush into those huge dumpsters that said NO BRUSH and went on our merry way.
I justify these actions by reasoning that I must not have had brush if the brush genies wouldn't take the debris.