The Front Garden

As I type, our gardeners are pulling up all the old landscaping in the flowerbeds in front of the house. Red-tipped shrubs that were planted nearly thirty years ago, and green nandina bushes with tiny red berries.... out they are coming. The nandina bushes have grown straggly over the years we've been here, and there were always more red berries than green leaves.

I've been wanting to re-do the front garden for the past few years now.... I was inspired this year by our newest neighbors up at the corner of the cul de sac. Soon after they moved in, they took out all the tall shrubs in front of their house-- also thirty-year old plants. The entire front of their house looked larger and more welcoming. We all cringed when they started pulling out those old shrubs....... the previous owners kept them all trimmed and flowering. But we all have to admit that the house looks better without them.... they had just grown too big and too tall.

Our gardener has been hinting that a change was needed in our yard. Every once in a while when he saw me outside, he would grab hold of one of the older shrubs and tell me "Eees too tin.... need new." Or he'd point to a patch of unidentifable bushes and say "Eees weed... need to pull out." He and I always disagreed on that one..... in my limited book of gardening rules, if it's green, it stays, and if it blooms, it gets moved to the little flowerbeds by the front walkway.

I was outside just a little while ago to see what the front of the house looks like without those tall shrubs...... looks brighter and bigger out there. I never much cared for the red-tipped shrubs... they always got too thin too quickly, and they constantly needed trimming. He's going to replace those with shorter, greener, thicker-growing shrubs. As for the little nandinas with the red berries, I won't be sad to see those gone. The only thing the berries were good for were holiday centerpieces at Christmas-time. In their place will be pretty pink azaleas. We'll fill in the rest with impatiens and small flowers. (And possibly a few blooming weeds.)

I'm waiting for one of the neighbors to call me and ask if we're moving. That's what happens on this little street....... when you do something major, everyone thinks you're getting the house ready to sell.


We drove into Kemah yesterday, with intentions of having lunch at one of the waterfront restaurants. It was just after noon-time when we got there, and there wasn't a parking space to be found, unless you wanted to pay for the private lots, which we never do. We live here, we don't want to pay for parking as if we're tourists.

That waterfront area has changed drastically over the last few years. Kemah used to be a sleepy little waterfront town. That was before billionaire Fertitta started buying up the land and the restaurants. He's been making a mini-DisneyLand ever since, except of course he doesn't have the Disney magic. As a result, that sleepy town has turned into a tourist trap. Wonderful for the tourists (they love it).... horrible for the locals (we hate it).

After a quick drive around those parking fields yesterday, we decided not to leave money in one of Fertitta's restaurants...... we drove to the little Greek restaurant instead. We had a nice lunch there, and felt good about the free and easy parking and the delicious food.