Today’s heat-inspired venture didn’t last long. Heat-inspired because I knew that when I came inside from the patio, the room would be cool….. well at least not as hot as the 83F it is outside. Seems my patio is one of the ones that has been recently replaced. The previous fences went down to the ground. The new ones, as lovely as they are, do not go down to the ground. Since April when I moved in, my patio has lain fallow with the exception of the volunteer tree that is getting quite tall, and the maple I brought from my last place. That lovely specimen is sitting atop a rarely used cheap barstool, that makes it look about 8 feet tall, when in reality it is but four or so.
I like looking outside at the ‘tall’ maple and the very green volunteer tree that serve me as screens to the outside world. Soon, as the leaves fall from the trees, there will be a screen of branches. From touring the place when the trees were leafless, I know that several upstairs apartments overlook my place — yes, yes at quite a distance, but still…. I know that the tenant would have to stand on their balcony to see anything at all, but I still like my pseudo-privacy.
Back to today. There are several squirrels who take up residency here at this apartment complex, and at this time of year they begin their nesting materials search which means that they forage everywhere, including my now open market patio, since the new fences were put up. My chore today was to block their ground pathways under the fence. I have 40 some bricks that I bought shortly after I moved here. Of course, the concept I had then is totally elusive to me today. So I begin the task. The ground is all higgeldy-piggeldy, uneven, and nothing fits as it should. After laying 20 or so bricks, I decided that all will have to come out, and the ground will have to be graded to be more even. Even as I sit here in the cool of the living room, I decide that perhaps I’ll do something totally out of the ordinary. I’ll cover the bricks with a bit of soil, then plant some unassuming ground cover that will grow and make me forget the uneven bricks.
Even better, perhaps I’ll just wall off the patio and forget it is out there. It would be lovely to have a gateway and entrance to the apartment from the patio. A safety issue, you say? More expense to key the sliding glass doors? Then why not French doors. That would be beautiful. Oh well. I’ve been watching too much HGTV. This is not my place to revamp. It belongs to a property company, the likes of whom care not for their humble tenants such as I… the one who would adore entering through the patio instead of entering through the only door, located under the kitchen fan outlet of my neighbors — yes, dears. Directly above my head and to the right a little is a fast moving column of air that sometimes makes me gag severely. I usually exclaim aloud, “Oh my God, what are they cooking today. I’ve never smelled anything so revolting!” It is, of course, a wasted effort since the cook in the place speaks little English, and this Hispanic food smells nothing like anything I have ever known to be cooked in the Mexican or for that matter, any homes I have known.
Wait, don’t tell me what it is. I don’t want to know.
So, after countless minutes, my brick effort has come to a grinding halt. The patio looks different — the plants are all moved to one side of the space. I am inside typing, and getting ready to make some tea, all the while the temperature prepares to rise at least another 14 or so degrees today. Seems this is not a patio day after all. Maybe I’ll go sit out there when the temp has gone down. Maybe midnight.
Oh gee. Just remembered that I no longer have Mondays off. I have to go to work tomorrow. Not quite a bummer…. just a bump in the road to a goal.
The tea awaits.
Maybe I should have bought that fine screen that was already cut to 1′ high. Now, that sounds easy.
Can one return bricks? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ad infinitum
Later………….
Keep the bricks! You never know when they might come in useful. I have a similar pile
jjxx