Tuesday, December 8, 2009

No. No. No.

No blogging in almost a month - and I start the festive season with my teeth on edge after being assaulted by such a jarring sight. My feistiness may have something to do with the fact I joined Weight Watchers at the peak of the Christian Women's Fat and Sugar Exchange - Christmas Baking. However, and in spite of the fact I want to put my face in the freezer with the short breads and open that lovely bottle of wine we've got on the rack with my teeth, I believe that this design and garden maintenance faux pas would have set me on edge on its own. Judge for yourself.....This is a lovely home. This is a lovely path - made up of healthy gorgeous evergreens. Evergreens are grown in this part of the world so that we have winter interest. Does this look interesting to you?

OK, let's just say that this was done out of kindness. It is getting colder, perhaps they are cold. So, why not get them a good wool coat, perhaps a comforter, maybe even one of those blankets with the arms in them - could this hedge look any worse? What's with the burlap? It isn't just that burlap is unattractive, it has absolutely no R value. If we don't wear it, why would we think our plants would be all warm and cozy if we made them a nice lumpy misshapen cover like this one? And, little rant coming to an end......no doubt this was done by a maintenance company - I know for a fact that no owner would have that much room in their garage to store it all.

Notice how it really doesn't improve no matter what angle the photo is taken from.However, I'm over it now. It was a glorious day today - all sunshine and sparkles.
As I was taking the photo of the burlap - a fox ran right in front of me. Obviously I needed a cookie, it occurred to me when he was almost out of sight that I should take his photo - Waldo is a little to the left of the signpost.

The little blur on the right is Bart having his morning run at the leash free park - will retake tomorrow so we can compare snow amounts.
It had been an amazing November - no real cold at all - it is unbelievable that the grass is still this green.

Last night's rain frozen on the Clematis seed head - thought they were water droplets, but found when I looked through the lens that they'd frozen solid - ice cubes for fairies.

8 comments:

Gail said...

Hey there Barbara, I'm glad you've had a great November...In light of your usually very long winters...this is a gift. The last photo is fantastic! Oh, I loved Where In The World Is Waldo the fox! gail ps Our winter rains have begun and I dream of places with sunshine.

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Hi Barbara,
I joined Weight Watchers a few Octobers ago with my daughter. Later, I wondered if that was a good time of year to do that, but it turned out good for me, because I just kept choosing to keep on track and lose weight. I ended up losing 60 pounds, and have put 24 back on because I want to eat chocolate every day. I am determined to lose about 5 pounds, and then be satisfied with my weight.

I am off work today because of snow. I sorted through my clothes today, and got rid of the size 4s, that I don't think I'll get back down to, but kept the size 6s and smaller 8s, hoping I'll get back into.

Well, I didn't mean to carry on so long. I hope your WW experience goes well. I enjoyed your photos.

Jim/ArtofGardening said...

Ha! They look like a chain gang of ghosts walking toward the house.

Deborah at Kilbourne Grove said...

I do not understand the point of planting evergreens for winter interest and wrapping them up like that. In Owen Sound, they have these wooden things (like sandwich boards) that go over top of the shrubs. I guess it is to stop the snow from splitting them open, but they are not very attractive.

Anonymous said...

Ee gads...Barbara, it's the Klu Klux Clan!!! Yeah, Barbara it's interesting all right, like the bird poop on my car, but far from aesthetic. This is the epitome of bad taste and I have to wonder if there is a legitimate or sensible reason for it or just dilettante, and legally blind maintenance crew.

Your photos are beautiful. Welcome back to the blogging world. You were missed.

Barbarapc said...

Gail - it's so dark this a.m., I can't even get a light reading with my camera. We're into the rain part of the storm - to be followed by snow this evening. I hope the sun shines tomorrow.
Thanks Sue & good for you. My next life, I'm going to come back as a person who stays just one size. Also, I believe that chocolate is also a food group.
Jim - so true and so appalling.
Deborah - There are so many really good evergreens for almost every area in Canada that don't spread apart in the snow - I think we just need to get the word out. I've never seen the sandwich boards covers. They sound just awful.
Grace - Thank you, and good to be back. There are two reasons to use burlap in our neck of the woods - one is for salt protection - planting near a road that is salted; the second is for wind protection. The most important point is that the burlap be set up on wooden stakes away from the plants, especially in the case of the salt - nothing worse than having the salty rag wrapped around the needles and leaves of precious evergreens.

Barry said...

Barbara:
From a distance....aww hell,you're right, it is still a travesty of the senses. I mean the least they could have done was decorate them to look like reindeer and attach a sleigh.... happy to have you back... I miss your biting sarcasm my friend!

Peggy said...

Hi Barbara, you have snow already?!You are right the burlap does look out of place. I love your last photo of the frozen droplets on the seed head. A prize winning pic in ant competition!