Our neighbours are probably gonna start calling me that.
There may be a Wacky Tree Woman in your 'hood too; she's the gal that has 10 or 20 massive potted trees she keeps hauling around to different spots in the yard, trying to find the perfect space for them before planting. I need to live with the trees for a few days to feel where they would fit best.
Over the past month, My Fella and I have decided this is the best RV lot ever, and we love being here. There are many amazing things about this site and I'll get to those in a future post.
On the downside:
- the back yard is hit with scorching south sun all day long which makes JohnnyDisco pretty unbearable by about 4pm
- we get our fair share of golf balls flying into the yard
To solve both problems we purchased a whack of fast growing trees from the local garden center. It's that time of the season when deciduous trees are 50% off and we got some wicked deals.
The only trees in the ground so far are these four Swedish columnar aspen planted along the southeast fenceline. They're tall, thin, leafy trees that make good privacy screens and can hopefully thwart wayward golf balls.
The aspen leaves make a cool whispering sound in even the slightest breeze... AND wooden stakes made from aspen trees are one of the only weapons in the world that can kill werewolves and vampires. In case you were wondering...
As you can see, the lot is still one big undeveloped space but we're slowly settling in and figuring out where things should go.
I've wasted almost an entire notebook of graph paper with rough drawings of our lot layout, planning things like: where to park JohnnyDisco, place the gazebo, build the firepit area, the woodpile, etc.
We moved both the RV and the gazebo last week to get the best use of this space. And this is somewhat embarrassing but I've relocated the woodpile twice. Yup, the whole thing. So now the neighbours are also calling me The Crazy Lady Who Keeps Moving Her Woodpile.
More RV lot pictures to come as we get more done.
Your fella has the Wacky Tree Woman and I have the Crazy Deer Lady! It keeps the neighbours interested anyway.
Our last winter in Cocopah Golf resort in Yuma included a great saga involving a golf ball broken motorhome windshield, a golfer who refused to pay damages, police and grudges. Cocopah rents out ugly screens by the season. I like trees better!
Posted by: Croft | September 16, 2011 at 10:36 AM
Years ago we lived in Manitoba and had aspen trees in our back yard. They grew unbelievably fast, from a twig in the ground to a fair sized tree in just a few years. It was really relaxing to see and hear the leaves fluttering in even a slight breeze. They grew well without any special care.
Posted by: Don | September 16, 2011 at 10:52 AM
Mexi-Croft,
I read your about your lovely Crazy Deer Lady bride. Funny stuff. Apparently her fence is working cause she's managed to scare all your Island deer out here to the Okanagan. They visit our golf lot every afternoon.
Was it YOUR windshield that was broken?
Posted by: kelsi | September 16, 2011 at 11:46 AM
Mr P,
Were there any negatives to the aspen trees you had? From what I've read so far they seem to be pretty low maintenance and deer resistant.
Plus - if I have to kill a vampire, we'll have the right wood to make a stake!
Posted by: kelsi | September 16, 2011 at 11:50 AM
The aspens didn't seem to have any negative things we didn't like about them. I see Cocopah mentioned in this blog, our neighbors have spent the last 2 winters there and just love it.
Posted by: Don | September 17, 2011 at 08:28 AM
No, not my windshield but another Canadian. The American golfer said, "That is what insurance is for. Tell them a ball came out of nowhere and broke your windshield. I will pay the deductible". The Canadian refused, thinking this would be dishonest. Hard feelings ensued.
Another Canadian golfer got ambulanced to the local hospital after getting a line drive right into the chest from his golfing buddy. Rumors were flying that he had died and persisted until he walked into the bar a couple of days later, heart still beating.
Thanks for taking our deer. They like roses, the most expensive kind you can find. Preferably red. Don't send them back!
Posted by: Croft | September 17, 2011 at 10:24 AM
Kelsi, do you haul a maul around or a chainsaw? Or just go old school with an ax?
Posted by: Jacq | September 17, 2011 at 06:47 PM
jjolie - We go old school on the wood ...but you can't even really call what we have an 'axe' - it's just a hatchet (a baby axe). Because we live in the RV and have to carry all our tools around with us, we usually go with the smallest version that does the job.
What did you use while on your RV adventure?
Posted by: kelsi | September 19, 2011 at 07:01 AM
Believe it or not, we didn't use anything. I forgot my hatchet at home and it seemed like we got away with not having it. Loads of the campgrounds or boondocking places had wood already cut up - I guess they were thinning trees? You never see that in AB or BC.
But I'm going to get a cord of wood delivered for the fireplace for the winter soon. I think I need to get a good, hefty ax. They're probably on sale now. :-)
Posted by: Jacq | September 20, 2011 at 08:31 AM
Re: Cocopah; we visited there one time when we were in Yuma. Had people we know staying there. Yuma is too...Yuma for us. We go to Mexico and the beach. Much more fun and we golf at the Field of Dreams golf course. Look it up sometime.
The outlaw mom.
Posted by: Mave | September 20, 2011 at 10:19 PM