Yesterday, the God above and His landscaping crew smiled down on us.
Last year, when we bought our house, the builder and his crew lay sod down TWICE that was already dying, way too late in the year, and much too short to survive the June-August weather of the Carolinas; so, of course, the sod dried up and died and our front yard has looked like a desert for the last year.
Because we’re dedicated folks, we tried everything the Internet told us to do. We thatched up the dead sod, we fertilized the ground, we bought expensive “heat tolerant” grass seed and regardless, we had only a few sad little patches of grass pop up.
We had resolved to simply keep fertilizing and adding seed and watering until we had some semblance of a lawn. But then…
Our beautiful neighbors (the same ones who brought us a POT ROAST when we first moved in!) informed us that they had just bought way too much sod to fix a few spots in their backyard and that they would sell us what they had for mere change. Not only that, but they arranged for their landscaper to come and install it and trim back our azalea bushes!
As much as we love our house, we never knew that our front yard could even look this nice!
You know you’re getting old when you get tremendously excited about grass and other landscaping nonsense.
And having really awesome neighbors.
I never thought there would be as much of a difference between living in a neighborhood as a homeowner and living in one as a renter. I mean, a house is a house, right? Wrong! There is something about that permanence and the care of a home that brings people together. We’ve got some great people on this street, and some I can’t wait to get to know better through the years. A few young couples, like us; some eccentric old folks (the BEST!), and older couples who love their gardens and the history of the city. The couple across the street even got a chicken coop last week and are planning on having three egg-laying hens! (Would it be rude to assume I should go ahead and start saving my egg cartons??)
The gentleman that lives diagonally across has bundles of beautiful plants, including these BRIGHT BLUE hydrangeas! There’s something about the South and its hydrangeas everywhere that stirs up a special bit of Gone With the Wind nostalgia.
I guess I’m growing into my old lady pants if I’m becoming this sentimental about neighbors and plants, eh? I think I’m ok with that.
Like a Sunday Stroll 