Pebbles

Another one of those long three day May weekends and we were able to make some more progress on the house. It was too nice to stay inside steaming wallpaper off so we worked in the yard, and after bumping into a neighbor and talking about driveways Seb was inspired to redo ours with small pebbles. I have been bugging him about this forever and he wanted to eventually pave it, but only after he finished the basement and only after renting a bulldozer to level it off better and only after installing the emergency drain pipes for the basement and...well you get the idea. It was never going to happen. Meanwhile we live with a mudpit of a driveway and if Little S slips on his way to the car going to school, which happens all the time, I have to take him back inside and change his clothes and I am cursing.

So yes, pebbles. Not the chic solution we wanted but it was easy and the price was right.

Now that we have a new driveway and it looks so clean, it has inspired me to start working on on the flower beds again. When you have four flower beds and two garden plots completely overgrown with ivy and then nearly another two acres beyond that, it's hard to imagine where to begin. Each time I go out and start pulling and tugging I get distracted by other easier projects, and then there's the little pile of weeds I've pulled up sitting there mocking me all day. But the ivy is so dense in those beds that I think I'll need to slice it through with a chainsaw before I get anywhere at all.



I like gardening but this yard is a full time job. When I do replant the four flower beds trust me it will be with groundcover. I need something low maintenance and low cost.

In other news I met our new neighbor, or the husband that is. They're a young couple and look to be about 29 or 30ish and they have a little girl fifteen months old. They only bought one third of the property which explains the low price we overheard during negotiations, nosy us listening in but hey never negotiate such things in the backyard! The rest of the property which included another tract of land and a small maisonette was sold seperately, but still I think they got a good deal. I was pleased to see that there's going to be someone for Charlotte to play with one day and another renovating couple nearby for sharing and comparing ideas or at least for sharing complaints with. There is comraderie to be found in being bathroomless! The husband seemed nice and I was embarrassed about our dirty backyard from all the ripping out of the upstairs. I apologized profusely and made it a point to clean up everything this weekend and restack the woodpile. It looks more welcoming (than in the photo) and maybe they can cancel off their list "BUILD HUGE RETAINING WALL BETWEEN US AND NEIGHBOR"



I don't want a tall wall between us and them because it will block the light in my kitchen and also because it feels un-neighborly. Oh the French! How can people rub elbows at the supermarket so readily, sit face to face with strangers in a café, yet have a morbid fear of seeing their neighbors peeking over a fence? I hope they'll keep the small wall the same height and just plant a few low bushes. I promise to be good (and buy matching clothes pins for my laundry line).