More Neighbors

These neighbors have been very quiet.  They are only at home part of the year.  They were so quiet I didn't even know they were there until last week.  I went to pick some limes for a party and saw this home.

You may have to look closely.   It's a tiny little hummingbird nest.  I had no clue it was there!  I understand hummingbirds sometimes come back and use the same nests.  I need to avoid trimming this part of the tree.  Perhaps next spring we'll get to see these neighbors move back in.

I got to thinking that if there's one nest, maybe there are more.  I didn't see another hummingbird nest.  I know they can be territorial, so I wasn't surprised.  But I did find this nest in the orange tree that's next to the lime.  This nest is much larger and I have no clue what kind of bird build it.

I can't wait until next spring!

New Fence

I have now confirmed that I'm a lazy gardener.  Months have passed since my last update.  Let me catch you up.  When last I posted, we'd just had the tree trimmed.  It is finally filling out again.  I have definitely resolved to tend to the trees on our side of the fence and let our neighbors tend to the trees on their sides.

I mentioned needing to watch our pennies until we started getting Allen's retirement, as at least one of his former co-workers had suffered the worst-case scenario the government warned of.  They received around 1/2 the money for nearly a year.  We were extremely happy that the full checks started right away.

So that allowed us to tackle the next big project of the fence.  Our neighbors (with the tree trimming) wanted a block wall or perhaps a vinyl fence.  I convinced them that the ficus tree roots would rip apart a wall.  Then I started getting estimates for vinyl, wood, and even composite fencing.  Several of the salesmen said we should remove the vines from the fence, so I spent about a month clipping the ivy and climbing ficus.  Wow.  This side of the fence was worse than I thought!  Yes, you can see right through the fence.  In fact, the fence started falling down as we removed the ivy which really was all that was holding it up! 

We decided on this fence.  Even some of the vinyl fence installers suggested that a wood fence would be better for our yard.  So I convince the one neighbor to go with this fence.  The neighbor on the other side was willing to pay for half of the cost of the standard redwood fence.  The landlord of the house behind us declined to help with the costs at all.  Oh well.

Anyway, I do love this fence.  It's nice and sturdy with steel posts guaranteed for 25 years and treated wood on the bottom where it touches the ground.  It looks the same on both sides.  Now to get it (or side) painted with a clear protective coat.