We just returned home from marking trees on our new property.
The builder tries to save the trees that we mark, as well as any hardwoods that aren't ten feet away from the property. The lot should be cleared in the next week.
It's really handy to be building about a block away from our current home. It is a mere five minute (or less) walk from our house and brings out the neurotic in us.
Want to drive by the lot five times a day? Sure! Why not? Want to take a walk by for the sixth time today?? Heck, yes!
Between Chris and I, the current homeowners on the quiet cul de sac must have been scratching their heads for the past two months.
The same two cars appear to be constantly lost.
"Why is that red SUV driving by AGAIN?"
"Haven't we seen that sand colored Corolla before? Those cars all look alike..."
So, today we took the bundled-up baby, the dog and a hoe to inspect and tape. Actually, Chris inspected and taped. I watched from the street and gave him orders.
"There is a palm way back there," I would yell. "Way in back. Make sure to get that!"
"Why are you using all of the tape on that one tree!? We're going to run out!"
"You're wrapping the tape around a dead branch, Chris! Tape it around something green!"
I think I observed some fist shaking in my direction several times. I would have joined him myself, if not for the threat of rattlers and water moccasins. We are rather close to a freshwater canal.
I understood his frustration with me, I suppose. He was trying to concentrate on not startling a snake, a nest of critters, or a badger. (I actually saw a dead badger on the side of the road not too far from here. I ALMOST stopped to take a picture, but thought better of it).
I think it would be very ironic for Chris to be attacked by a pissed off badger.
The neighbors returned home as we were in the middle of our process. I made Chris put down the hoe before we approached them. I don't think we appear threatening, but I didn't want to get off on the wrong foot.
He was from Connecticut; she was from Miami. They mentioned they were trying to decide whether to move or not. I hope meeting Chris and I, along with a screaming toddler and a scrappy Cairn Terrier, didn't push them over the edge. They seem like they would be nice neighbors.
We also received the scoop on the other neighbors, which was very handy.
Apparently we are building right next door to a "jerk." The husband used this word several times while talking to Chris. The wife used more tactful phrases like "he's quiet and keeps to himself," and "we only speak to him about once a year."
This is unfortunate because the "jerk" has a shed that is in a questionable location. It is set diagonally in his backyard, partially located on our lot.
His day is really going to suck when he hears that, a.) the empty lot he has been enjoying for years and years is going to disappear. And, oh yeah, 2.) that shed that looks to have been placed there twenty years ago with vines growing over it? It needs to be moved ~ pronto ~ because the permits are being pulled tomorrow and the bulldozers are coming.
I'm glad it is not us who has to inform him, but I am morbidly curious how that conversation is going to go.
Oh, and apparently the girl next door to him is a nurse is quite a "looker." The husband nodded and winked when he gave Chris this information.
The wife told me, "she's nice and she works a lot."
I want to be a "looker" again. Maybe someday.
We returned home, even more excited to be able to watch the process on a daily basis.
Once the ground is broken, we'll be even more OCD than we are now. There is no stopping us from walking/driving by a dozen times a day.
We signed an agreement not to walk around inside the property for liability reasons. I KNOW how we are and how much effort it will take for us to adhere to this.
It will take every fiber of our being.
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