I used to let the bulbs grow until their leaves dried out and turned brown. The idea behind that is that the green leaves is where all the photosynthesis happens and that helps the growth for next year's performance. I don't know how much that helped, but the bulbs were pretty healthy and propagated prolifically.
Down here crab grass seems to be the big problem. There are people like me who battle it and there are others who seem to prefer it to fescue. Up north I'd pull it out by hand but that was just to get some sun and exercise. There is no way to successfully battle crab grass manually. The right way is to put down a pre-emergent about this time of the year before the seeds from last year have a chance to sprout. I did that one year and was fairly successful, but not successful enough. So last year I hired somebody to lay down industrial grade pre-emergent and that worked really well. I guess it helped that they came back a second time - part of the package deal. This year when I went to sign up for the same treatment it was $100 more than last year. That was about a 25% increase. I bit the bullet with the intention of not calling them back next year. Hopefully they will clean out the last of the crabby grass and I will be able to fight it on my own going forward.
Windows 93
Re: Windows 93
Well, the spring bulb flowers are usually dead and gone by the time I do the first mowing.
Nothing wrong with crabgrass, it is green, you can drive on it, spill stuff on it, the dogs can water it, and it stays green.
A little clumpy, but it mows just like all other grasses and weeds, hi hi.
Nothing wrong with crabgrass, it is green, you can drive on it, spill stuff on it, the dogs can water it, and it stays green.
A little clumpy, but it mows just like all other grasses and weeds, hi hi.
Re: Windows 93
You are not the only person I know who has no objections to crab grass. It is green but that's all I can say it has in common with a traditional lawn. The crab grass I've seen has something close to grassy leaves but the seed stems are obnoxious and ugly. Plus it grows in a circle, not straight up like the real stuff. In other words crab grass does not blend in well with fescue grass. Weeds of other sorts have the same problem. But, I will agree with you that there is nothing wrong as far as the ecology of it all goes. In fact it's probably more eco-friendly not to have a manicured lawn and just let things grow wild. I could have done that back home in Chicago where there were not HOA inspectors coming around making sure we all comply with the 32 pages of rules and regulations all good neighbors must follow. I haven't bothered to look into what kind of lawn they expect, or even if they expect any lawn. But I do know there is a limit to the height you can let it all grow to. Some crab grass I've seen grows beyond that height. Oddly enough they allow pampas grass. Then again, that is only a couple plants here and there. They might not like my entire lawn to consist of that stuff. LOL
Re: Windows 93
My dad's lawn was always Kentucky Blue Grass.
I always planted some Fescue, along with Perennial Rye, in my back yard.
But had what is called Bentgrass in my front yard the first ten years I lived there, then let whatever take over.
I had to put a steel barrier at the edge of my lawn where my neighbors front yard touched mine.
He had Zoisia, the last to turn green and the first to turn brown every year.
It is supposed to look great, but his yard always looked horrible, except for about three months out of the year.
I have a few Pampas Grass clumps here too. I burn them in the spring and they do great every year.
I always planted some Fescue, along with Perennial Rye, in my back yard.
But had what is called Bentgrass in my front yard the first ten years I lived there, then let whatever take over.
I had to put a steel barrier at the edge of my lawn where my neighbors front yard touched mine.
He had Zoisia, the last to turn green and the first to turn brown every year.
It is supposed to look great, but his yard always looked horrible, except for about three months out of the year.
I have a few Pampas Grass clumps here too. I burn them in the spring and they do great every year.
Re: Windows 93
I too had a small patch of Kentucky Blue grass on my front lawn. It was indeed beautiful stuff and didn't require the maintenance all the other grass needed. Kentucky Blue doesn't grow straight up or very quickly if I recall. But, it is tricky in that it will die back and go dormant for the season if you don't cut it properly. I loved what they called creeping Fescue because it often chocked out some of the undesirable growth. Newly seeded lawns do in fact need some rye to get started but I don't believe I had a lot of the perennial variety. After a few years of lawn care I had a mix of Fescue, Crabgrass, and dandelions. LOL My daughter lived down in Florida for several years and all that would grow down there is Zoisia. If I recall it was all plugs and had spaces between them. It never spread out like the Fescue.
Well, I wish I could burn the Pampas Grass I have but there undoubtedly is an ordinance against it. Maybe not because a lot of folks around here also have fire pits. The problem with mine is that it's too close to the neighbor's fence to set on fire. All fences here are white plastic and a burning bush would melt them down.
Well, I wish I could burn the Pampas Grass I have but there undoubtedly is an ordinance against it. Maybe not because a lot of folks around here also have fire pits. The problem with mine is that it's too close to the neighbor's fence to set on fire. All fences here are white plastic and a burning bush would melt them down.
Re: Windows 93
Dad would use Annual Rye along with the Blue Grass seed to shade it while it took hold. His lawn did look nice at the old house.
And although my dad hated Bermuda grass, it is what we used at my other grandpas on the horse pastures.
Down here in Tennessee, about all you see is Tall Fescue or Perennial Rye. Besides the weeds and crabgrass of course, hi hi.
I usually only burn it after a heavy rain, and with a garden hose handy. It burns a little slower when a little damp. Otherwise it goes up like somebody poured gasoline on it, hi hi.
One of my neighbors has this huge roll of like fireplace screen. It stands about 8 feet tall and he opens it up around his Pampas grass and makes it like a tepee over it. Said he can't get into trouble that way, because you are allowed to burn an outdoor enclosed fireplace, hi hi.
Folks can't use plastic fences down here on the side that faces west, if it gets the 3 to 4 pm sun, the melt from that too!
And although my dad hated Bermuda grass, it is what we used at my other grandpas on the horse pastures.
Down here in Tennessee, about all you see is Tall Fescue or Perennial Rye. Besides the weeds and crabgrass of course, hi hi.
I usually only burn it after a heavy rain, and with a garden hose handy. It burns a little slower when a little damp. Otherwise it goes up like somebody poured gasoline on it, hi hi.
One of my neighbors has this huge roll of like fireplace screen. It stands about 8 feet tall and he opens it up around his Pampas grass and makes it like a tepee over it. Said he can't get into trouble that way, because you are allowed to burn an outdoor enclosed fireplace, hi hi.
Folks can't use plastic fences down here on the side that faces west, if it gets the 3 to 4 pm sun, the melt from that too!
Re: Windows 93
I have two Pampas Grass plants. Both are on the south side of the lot but only one gets full sun. The other is between some bushes and trees and is shaded part of the day. It's amazing how differently these two plants grow, but it's not due to the sun. My neighbor has a storm sewer right next to his fence and in line with my Pampas Grass plant. Thus all the drain water from my home and a couple of the neighbors to my east go right through the Pampas to get to the storm sewer. That path stays wet a lot longer than the rest of the lawn and is always green. The rest of the lawn dries out during the hottest summer months. I can only guess at the height to which it grows and it hast to be in excess of 12 feet. It's probably closer to 15 feet tall and a good yard wide at it's base. The other shaded plant grows to about 5-6 feet tall and might be 24 inches wide. They both seem healthy, but the effects of having plenty water is obvious.
When I first moved here and saw the plastic fencing I had the same thought that you express. It's going to melt in the direct sunlight. We have had several 100+ days since I've lived here and none of the plastic so much as warped. The fencing around my deck is made of the same stuff and the surface temperatures on that must approach 120F on some days. So far none of it has melted.
When I first moved here and saw the plastic fencing I had the same thought that you express. It's going to melt in the direct sunlight. We have had several 100+ days since I've lived here and none of the plastic so much as warped. The fencing around my deck is made of the same stuff and the surface temperatures on that must approach 120F on some days. So far none of it has melted.
Re: Windows 93
There are many species of Pampas Grass, the one we have here in our yard, in about six places, never gets taller than around 4 feet, perhaps one might get to five feet, but not often.
A neighbor has a species that is beautiful, looks like large feathers, but heavy rains usually beat it down every year.
One house down here had like a post and rail fence made of plastic, and the rails all sagged down until they fell out.
Now he has wooden rails coated in plastic, instead of hollow like his original ones.
I have two squirrels sitting on the window ledge outside my office window, just chomping away on some black oil sunflower seeds I put out there for the birds.
When I used normal wild bird seed, all the squirrels knew, only the large squirrel tray was for them, and everything else was off limits.
But now that I only had the black oil sunflower seeds left, the faster I run out of that bag, the faster I can get back to normal bird seed.
Then will come the challenge of breaking the squirrels from eating off the window ledge feeder, hi hi.
A neighbor has a species that is beautiful, looks like large feathers, but heavy rains usually beat it down every year.
One house down here had like a post and rail fence made of plastic, and the rails all sagged down until they fell out.
Now he has wooden rails coated in plastic, instead of hollow like his original ones.
I have two squirrels sitting on the window ledge outside my office window, just chomping away on some black oil sunflower seeds I put out there for the birds.
When I used normal wild bird seed, all the squirrels knew, only the large squirrel tray was for them, and everything else was off limits.
But now that I only had the black oil sunflower seeds left, the faster I run out of that bag, the faster I can get back to normal bird seed.
Then will come the challenge of breaking the squirrels from eating off the window ledge feeder, hi hi.
Re: Windows 93
My Pampas was installed by a landscaper. I presume both plants are of the same variety. Maybe not. They look the same except for the height. I'm really astonished by the height of the one plant. The tubes shooting upward are fairly large but less than one inch in diameter. The very top of the center shoots have those feathery seed pods on them. It's amusing to watch the birds try and feed off them in late autumn. They will land on the top of the stalk and start pecking away but their weight bends the stalk so that it almost touches the ground, at which point they fly off. I watched a flock of birds do that trick for about an hour one day.
I used to feed the birds in my former house but not down here. They decided the underside of my deck was a good place to build a bird maternity center. There typically are 3-4 nests under the deck any season. Given that I didn't offer them the free room and board they can go find their own food. And they do. One animal I've not see around my house is a squirrel. They tell me they do exist here in O'Fallon but I have yet to see one. You are indeed pretty good at training animals, but I didn't think it was possible to get wild critters to obey your wishes. You are pretty good if you can teach them where to feed.
I used to feed the birds in my former house but not down here. They decided the underside of my deck was a good place to build a bird maternity center. There typically are 3-4 nests under the deck any season. Given that I didn't offer them the free room and board they can go find their own food. And they do. One animal I've not see around my house is a squirrel. They tell me they do exist here in O'Fallon but I have yet to see one. You are indeed pretty good at training animals, but I didn't think it was possible to get wild critters to obey your wishes. You are pretty good if you can teach them where to feed.
Re: Windows 93
An old cork gun with a potato plug in the end make enough noise to scare them away.
The squirrels on the feeder they are allowed on, often times do not move when they see me with the pop gun.
I guess they know I'm only after the ones clinging to a bird feeder or sitting on my ledge on the window.
I also have a pooch I can say SQUIRREL to him, and he will head out and run them off too, hi hi.
But here also, the ones on the safe feeder just ignore him, hi hi.
So I guess they do learn, which tray is for them.
At my old house, no squirrels were allowed in my yard at all, after they tore up the soffit and got into the attic and chomped down on some electrical wires up there.
I had several buzzers around the house, and a row of buttons in my office, and another row of buttons in the kitchen.
With the vertical metal siding, and a little buzzer screwed to it loosely, they made a horrible racket.
They were only 4-1/2 volt buzzers, so I had a battery pack with 3 AAA batteries hooked up to each.
Just used telephone wire as the feed to them and my buttons.
Later on, I removed the battery packs and used a 5 volt wall wart, worked better than way, and no batteries to replace.
Down here, I made a sonic tube, which only consisted of a solenoid and a rubber disk inside a 2 inch PVC pipe about 4 feet long. It made a strange pop sound when I hit the button to it. But it only scared the squirrels for about a week, then they know to ignore it. Just like the birds ignore it when my AC unit kicks on and off.
The squirrels on the feeder they are allowed on, often times do not move when they see me with the pop gun.
I guess they know I'm only after the ones clinging to a bird feeder or sitting on my ledge on the window.
I also have a pooch I can say SQUIRREL to him, and he will head out and run them off too, hi hi.
But here also, the ones on the safe feeder just ignore him, hi hi.
So I guess they do learn, which tray is for them.
At my old house, no squirrels were allowed in my yard at all, after they tore up the soffit and got into the attic and chomped down on some electrical wires up there.
I had several buzzers around the house, and a row of buttons in my office, and another row of buttons in the kitchen.
With the vertical metal siding, and a little buzzer screwed to it loosely, they made a horrible racket.
They were only 4-1/2 volt buzzers, so I had a battery pack with 3 AAA batteries hooked up to each.
Just used telephone wire as the feed to them and my buttons.
Later on, I removed the battery packs and used a 5 volt wall wart, worked better than way, and no batteries to replace.
Down here, I made a sonic tube, which only consisted of a solenoid and a rubber disk inside a 2 inch PVC pipe about 4 feet long. It made a strange pop sound when I hit the button to it. But it only scared the squirrels for about a week, then they know to ignore it. Just like the birds ignore it when my AC unit kicks on and off.
Re: Windows 93
I think wild critters operate mostly on instinct, but as your squirrel story shows they can learn certain things. The main instinct is to stay alive which is where foraging for food comes into play. Any loud noise would trigger those survival instincts which is why the squirrels run away. But then there are obviously some squirrels who figured out, learned, that the noise is somehow associated with you. They see you and expect fireworks. No big deal. I'm guessing you never approach the safe feeder with your noise maker but you do head in the direction of the No Feed Zone. It's you (or your pooch) approaching that triggers the survival instinct because they have already learned that the popping sound is harmless. Of course that is all speculation, but it is obvious that you can communicate with the squirrels on your property.
The second summer we live here a bunny rabbit appeared in my back lawn. Judging by her size she must have been fairly young, and she was also unafraid. I could slowly approach her and get within a few feet before she decided to mosey on to another location. This behavior was cute and I might have reached out to pet her if I could have gotten close enough, disregarding any potential for her being a rabid rabbit. Well, one day she was sitting in the sun and I was mowing the lawn. She watched me get closer and closer and at one point decided it's time to run. By the time I got to where she was sitting, and only then, I discovered why she was there. She was guarding her little bunnies in the shallow nest she built underground. I ran over the nest with the cutter before I saw what was there and to my relief I didn't see any rabbit fur shooting out of my mower. Well I finished the lawn and sometime when I wasn't around mom moved the kids to another location. Ever since then I could no longer get close to her to even think about extending a hand. So, this bunny learned to associate me with the noise of the lawn mower and the threat to her brood. The next year she camped out on my neighbor's lawn. LOL This neighbor and I do not have a fence between us and he mows his lawn too. So I don't get why mama bunny chose his lawn over mine. Last year I did not see the bunny at all, but prior to that she was camped out under one of my pine trees. I never saw any mini bunnies but who knows for sure?
The second summer we live here a bunny rabbit appeared in my back lawn. Judging by her size she must have been fairly young, and she was also unafraid. I could slowly approach her and get within a few feet before she decided to mosey on to another location. This behavior was cute and I might have reached out to pet her if I could have gotten close enough, disregarding any potential for her being a rabid rabbit. Well, one day she was sitting in the sun and I was mowing the lawn. She watched me get closer and closer and at one point decided it's time to run. By the time I got to where she was sitting, and only then, I discovered why she was there. She was guarding her little bunnies in the shallow nest she built underground. I ran over the nest with the cutter before I saw what was there and to my relief I didn't see any rabbit fur shooting out of my mower. Well I finished the lawn and sometime when I wasn't around mom moved the kids to another location. Ever since then I could no longer get close to her to even think about extending a hand. So, this bunny learned to associate me with the noise of the lawn mower and the threat to her brood. The next year she camped out on my neighbor's lawn. LOL This neighbor and I do not have a fence between us and he mows his lawn too. So I don't get why mama bunny chose his lawn over mine. Last year I did not see the bunny at all, but prior to that she was camped out under one of my pine trees. I never saw any mini bunnies but who knows for sure?
Re: Windows 93
I've had a couple squirrels who when they saw me coming with the bucket I fill their feeder up with, they would hop right up on the feeder in my way. They wanted to be first at the goodies, hi hi.
I always bang the empty can four times on the deck rails, that way they know their feeder is full.
The birds have picked up on that sound too, and even if I don't see a single bird, the minute I bang that can, here they come.
There was a Mommy and Daddy Cardinal, usually the Daddy, who would sit on my left arm as I filled the seed feeders. He would watch Mommy eat, then he would go eat.
We have all kinds of small critters here. I have a couple of chipmunks who eat by my back door, I feed them there so Debi can see them from the house. We also have a couple families of turtles who live in the old mulch pile area. I rarely see them, but when I do, there are usually a lot of babies also, and ones that are growing bigger from the previous year. I have to watch close for them when I'm mowing.
Not sure where the rabbits do their thing, but our front yard always has a few. Sometimes we will see an adult in the back yard, but never any babies. I guess they know the dogs can come out there so keep the babies out of the back yard.
Funny though, a domestic rabbit was in our back yard, and the dogs just sniffed him a bit, and then Lacie carried her into the house through the doggie door and dropped it on Debi's lap. We found a home for it fairly quick.
A couple of raccoons occasionally come by the mandoor of the garage, where I feed the chipmonks. Sometimes at night, you can hear them screaming up in the trees in the back top of the hill.
And about once a year, we catch a glimpse of a deer up in the woods. No bears thankfully.
A few years ago, a couple of geese took up residence in a raised ivied area at the top of my driveway. Once the eggs hatched they were gone again. Had a couple of geese back home make their nest under some mum plants in my front yard that were fenced in with a decorative fence. I guess they felt safe there.
I always bang the empty can four times on the deck rails, that way they know their feeder is full.
The birds have picked up on that sound too, and even if I don't see a single bird, the minute I bang that can, here they come.
There was a Mommy and Daddy Cardinal, usually the Daddy, who would sit on my left arm as I filled the seed feeders. He would watch Mommy eat, then he would go eat.
We have all kinds of small critters here. I have a couple of chipmunks who eat by my back door, I feed them there so Debi can see them from the house. We also have a couple families of turtles who live in the old mulch pile area. I rarely see them, but when I do, there are usually a lot of babies also, and ones that are growing bigger from the previous year. I have to watch close for them when I'm mowing.
Not sure where the rabbits do their thing, but our front yard always has a few. Sometimes we will see an adult in the back yard, but never any babies. I guess they know the dogs can come out there so keep the babies out of the back yard.
Funny though, a domestic rabbit was in our back yard, and the dogs just sniffed him a bit, and then Lacie carried her into the house through the doggie door and dropped it on Debi's lap. We found a home for it fairly quick.
A couple of raccoons occasionally come by the mandoor of the garage, where I feed the chipmonks. Sometimes at night, you can hear them screaming up in the trees in the back top of the hill.
And about once a year, we catch a glimpse of a deer up in the woods. No bears thankfully.
A few years ago, a couple of geese took up residence in a raised ivied area at the top of my driveway. Once the eggs hatched they were gone again. Had a couple of geese back home make their nest under some mum plants in my front yard that were fenced in with a decorative fence. I guess they felt safe there.
Re: Windows 93
I miss the wildlife I had to leave behind at my suburban Chicago home. The property on which we build was wild growth of everything you can imagine in the Prairie State. A drainage stream ran through the property about one third the way in from the street. We built our house on that one third and left the growth out back be what it wanted to be for several years. Then I discovered the joys of power tools. LOL That's a whole different experience I miss dearly, but the point of this story is the variety of wildlife that came with the property.
We almost had to move out the first year after we built the house because there were a couple garden snakes roaming about. Wife was/is fiercely anti snake in spite of these guys being not much more than a large night crawler. Fortunately, there also was an owl that took up residence somewhere in our back forest. I've seen him only a few times and that is because what looked like a bunch of crows were chasing it across the sky. Apparently crows and owls don't get along. However, I later learned that owls eat snakes. One day we found pieces of garden snake on the front lawn and were amazed at the sight. Apparently the owl had a feast and eliminated those creepy crawlers from our property. A year or two later the owl too disappeared.
We also had skunk(s) living out back. I knew where their hole in the ground was and steered clear of it. One summer day early in our residence in that new house one of the skunks decided to come up to the house and investigate the window well along the north side of the house. It fell into the well and could not get out. I didn't know what to do to help because I didn't want to get too close. I put an old wooden flower trellis down in there hoping the critter would be able to use it to crawl out. Well, apparently skunks are dumb. Scared skunks are anyway. They were building my neighbor's house next door and working outside they got the full brunt of the skunks stink. So one guy came over and wacked it with a shovel. He carried it out back to the forest after that. That was not the end of the skunk stink, however. Because the critter was in the window well, all his emissions traveled into the drain tiles surrounding the house. Thus, every window well had a terrible stink for several months. We learned two things from that experience. #1 is the fact that tomato juice does not neutralize skunk stink. #2 was to put covers over the window wells so that stinky critters can't fall in.
We almost had to move out the first year after we built the house because there were a couple garden snakes roaming about. Wife was/is fiercely anti snake in spite of these guys being not much more than a large night crawler. Fortunately, there also was an owl that took up residence somewhere in our back forest. I've seen him only a few times and that is because what looked like a bunch of crows were chasing it across the sky. Apparently crows and owls don't get along. However, I later learned that owls eat snakes. One day we found pieces of garden snake on the front lawn and were amazed at the sight. Apparently the owl had a feast and eliminated those creepy crawlers from our property. A year or two later the owl too disappeared.
We also had skunk(s) living out back. I knew where their hole in the ground was and steered clear of it. One summer day early in our residence in that new house one of the skunks decided to come up to the house and investigate the window well along the north side of the house. It fell into the well and could not get out. I didn't know what to do to help because I didn't want to get too close. I put an old wooden flower trellis down in there hoping the critter would be able to use it to crawl out. Well, apparently skunks are dumb. Scared skunks are anyway. They were building my neighbor's house next door and working outside they got the full brunt of the skunks stink. So one guy came over and wacked it with a shovel. He carried it out back to the forest after that. That was not the end of the skunk stink, however. Because the critter was in the window well, all his emissions traveled into the drain tiles surrounding the house. Thus, every window well had a terrible stink for several months. We learned two things from that experience. #1 is the fact that tomato juice does not neutralize skunk stink. #2 was to put covers over the window wells so that stinky critters can't fall in.
Re: Windows 93
The only places we saw lots of critters was on our farm, and after I moved down here.
My uncles house had tall window wells, because he had double hung windows in his basement. Even with grates over them, all kinds of things still got in there. Lizards, snakes, etc. He hated the yearly task of cleaning them out from inside the house.
Some houses I worked at had little window wells for basement windows that were slightly below grade, but most of them had a clear half-dome over them, and most were made of glass since the houses were older. Then came the little plastic covers.
Up near a park back home, a whole family of skunks lived up there. And you know kids, they just had to go up in that area to see if they could see them. A few came back after getting sprayed real good, and stunk to high heaven, hi hi.
I also think this is the first time I ever saw a mom and dad tie a kid down to the roof of a station wagon before driving home from the park too.
My uncles house had tall window wells, because he had double hung windows in his basement. Even with grates over them, all kinds of things still got in there. Lizards, snakes, etc. He hated the yearly task of cleaning them out from inside the house.
Some houses I worked at had little window wells for basement windows that were slightly below grade, but most of them had a clear half-dome over them, and most were made of glass since the houses were older. Then came the little plastic covers.
Up near a park back home, a whole family of skunks lived up there. And you know kids, they just had to go up in that area to see if they could see them. A few came back after getting sprayed real good, and stunk to high heaven, hi hi.
I also think this is the first time I ever saw a mom and dad tie a kid down to the roof of a station wagon before driving home from the park too.
Re: Windows 93
I had to read your comments twice in order to be certain you were telling me some people tied their child down to the roof of their station wagon after an encounter with a skunk. That is incredibly moronic and illegal, but to be fair I understand why they did it. I think it would have been grounds to have the children taken away from them, or at least it should be in my humble opinion. I know how bad skunk stink can be and would not want my car to smell like that for any length of time. But that is no justification for endangering a child's life.
The suburb I lived in prior to this house was well populated. There was a section of home on one acre lots, and mine was one of those. So much vacant land was highly unusual that close to the city, but the land was unincorporated for a long time and escaped any real development until I got there. There must have been a total of three acres that had dense growth with a lot of trees. That is where the wild critters stayed in spite of the city growing around them. A family of deer lived in that are, or at least spent time in it every year. I have photographs of them and their kids, some of which are shots of them resting peacefully in the snow. I can see little creatures staying in the forest, but why the deer chose to stay was well beyond my comprehension. We had a few giant honeysuckle bushes and the deer loved the bark from them. They didn't eat anything else that I could see. I saved a few of those bushes by planting them near the house, but the hungry deer consumed quite a few. One night about 2 AM I happened to be up and saw some deer on the street under the lamp post. There were two I believe and they stayed there long enough to get a picture. It's all contrary to what I expect deer to do. So here we are in the wide open farmland of Missouri living in ticky tacky houses just a short walk from the edge of the city. Do you think any deer are roaming about where I would expect them? None that I ever saw. But wife claims she did see one out in a field down the road from us. One in all the six years we have been here.
We had one deep window well that had to be made as an escape hatch per the building code. It had a removable window so that you could climb into the well from the basement. While that was fine and up to code, once you are in the well the ground level was about shoulder high. In other words I don't see how anyone could crawl out of such a thing. And it is those clear plastic domes that we put over the window wells after the skunk experience. They lasted about ten years before they disintegrated and became useless. Fortunately the Home Depot nearby had lots of them for sale. None the exact size of our window wells but big enough to keep out the skunks.
The suburb I lived in prior to this house was well populated. There was a section of home on one acre lots, and mine was one of those. So much vacant land was highly unusual that close to the city, but the land was unincorporated for a long time and escaped any real development until I got there. There must have been a total of three acres that had dense growth with a lot of trees. That is where the wild critters stayed in spite of the city growing around them. A family of deer lived in that are, or at least spent time in it every year. I have photographs of them and their kids, some of which are shots of them resting peacefully in the snow. I can see little creatures staying in the forest, but why the deer chose to stay was well beyond my comprehension. We had a few giant honeysuckle bushes and the deer loved the bark from them. They didn't eat anything else that I could see. I saved a few of those bushes by planting them near the house, but the hungry deer consumed quite a few. One night about 2 AM I happened to be up and saw some deer on the street under the lamp post. There were two I believe and they stayed there long enough to get a picture. It's all contrary to what I expect deer to do. So here we are in the wide open farmland of Missouri living in ticky tacky houses just a short walk from the edge of the city. Do you think any deer are roaming about where I would expect them? None that I ever saw. But wife claims she did see one out in a field down the road from us. One in all the six years we have been here.
We had one deep window well that had to be made as an escape hatch per the building code. It had a removable window so that you could climb into the well from the basement. While that was fine and up to code, once you are in the well the ground level was about shoulder high. In other words I don't see how anyone could crawl out of such a thing. And it is those clear plastic domes that we put over the window wells after the skunk experience. They lasted about ten years before they disintegrated and became useless. Fortunately the Home Depot nearby had lots of them for sale. None the exact size of our window wells but big enough to keep out the skunks.
Re: Windows 93
Well, it was back in the 1960's when we rode in the back of pick-up trucks, and on some of the older cars on the running boards.
Also, when I said they tied him down, it wasn't like they tied a deer to the roof, they did so only to make sure he didn't fall off, and had something to hold onto.
When we bought the house in Creve Coeur, it was woods on the other side of the street in front of my house. It was a noise barrier between Olive Boulevard and our house. It was common ground for the subdivision. But the leaders of the subdivision organization decided to sell that land to a strip mall, bank, and medical building. But the had to put up an 8 foot tall brick wall. Which they did, only one row of bricks wide in a serpentine fashion, the cheapest way they could do it, and YES, as expected, after a few years, it fell over. They left it that way for close to 8 to 10 years despite the complaints. They finally rebuilt it, in the same way, about a year before I moved south.
They also sold another area of common ground where we all had an annual picnic, and allowed three houses to be built in that park area.
We had a store named Builders Square that was getting ready to close down, so everything was on sale.
We bought about 50 of those window well covers and bolted them together to form like a little dome out of each.
That sounds like a lot, but placing them side by side in the garden, two rows only covered about 25 feet of length.
Worked great to get the garden started early, and they also stacked really well also, so didn't take up much storage space.
After my son was a but older, he used them to build himself like a clear clubhouse, hi hi.
About two years later, a couple of neighbors complained about it, so we broke it apart and hauled it off to the county dump.
Also, when I said they tied him down, it wasn't like they tied a deer to the roof, they did so only to make sure he didn't fall off, and had something to hold onto.
When we bought the house in Creve Coeur, it was woods on the other side of the street in front of my house. It was a noise barrier between Olive Boulevard and our house. It was common ground for the subdivision. But the leaders of the subdivision organization decided to sell that land to a strip mall, bank, and medical building. But the had to put up an 8 foot tall brick wall. Which they did, only one row of bricks wide in a serpentine fashion, the cheapest way they could do it, and YES, as expected, after a few years, it fell over. They left it that way for close to 8 to 10 years despite the complaints. They finally rebuilt it, in the same way, about a year before I moved south.
They also sold another area of common ground where we all had an annual picnic, and allowed three houses to be built in that park area.
We had a store named Builders Square that was getting ready to close down, so everything was on sale.
We bought about 50 of those window well covers and bolted them together to form like a little dome out of each.
That sounds like a lot, but placing them side by side in the garden, two rows only covered about 25 feet of length.
Worked great to get the garden started early, and they also stacked really well also, so didn't take up much storage space.
After my son was a but older, he used them to build himself like a clear clubhouse, hi hi.
About two years later, a couple of neighbors complained about it, so we broke it apart and hauled it off to the county dump.
Re: Windows 93
Thanks for clarifying the situation with kids being tied down to a station wagon. LOL The number of what we would call recreational vehicles I see down here on the public streets is phenomenal. Not all of them are licensed and obviously intended for off road use, but you know how kids are. There are some pretty fancy ones that look like upgraded golf carts. Every once in a while they pass by with kids and adults sitting in an open air box with just a cloth roof. It's safe enough, I suppose, and I have no idea where these people are going or why they use these recreational vehicles to get there. Quite often youngsters are sitting in the rear facing backwards and their feet over the edge of the cart. I just saw such a thing last night but didn't get a good look to see how secure the kids were in their seat. It seems that the folks around here think nothing of it while most of those things were banned from being on public streets in the first place. Then, too, the police patrolled the neighborhood way more often up north than they do down here. For all I know it's not legal here either.
Amazing as it might seem I remember an uncle or two from my childhood who had automobiles with running boards. I don't have a clear and distinct memory of it, but I'm pretty sure I hitched a ride on the running board of one of them just for the fun of it. Also I well remember Builders Square. They were one of my favorite sources. When they closed down Home Depot, or some such place, took over the territory. The replacement stores were not as good as the Builders Square, however. In any case that idea you had to build mini greenhouses out of discarded window well covers was brilliant.
We don't have a lot of common area in our subdivision, but then we are not all that big. About the only obvious area is the swimming pool which is part of the fee we pay in spite of being given so called "free" passes. During the Covid plague there were some pretty strict rules and few people used that pool. They also had a very hard time getting life guards. Some of the locals volunteered to keep watch. I guess many of the neighbors have kids and claim the pool is a benefit, but even when we are not in a plague it seldom has many people in it. If I had my druthers the pool would be filled in and the area turned into a dog park. There is little doubt in my mind that a dog part would ALWAYS be crowded judging by the number of dog walkers I see in the neighborhood.
Amazing as it might seem I remember an uncle or two from my childhood who had automobiles with running boards. I don't have a clear and distinct memory of it, but I'm pretty sure I hitched a ride on the running board of one of them just for the fun of it. Also I well remember Builders Square. They were one of my favorite sources. When they closed down Home Depot, or some such place, took over the territory. The replacement stores were not as good as the Builders Square, however. In any case that idea you had to build mini greenhouses out of discarded window well covers was brilliant.
We don't have a lot of common area in our subdivision, but then we are not all that big. About the only obvious area is the swimming pool which is part of the fee we pay in spite of being given so called "free" passes. During the Covid plague there were some pretty strict rules and few people used that pool. They also had a very hard time getting life guards. Some of the locals volunteered to keep watch. I guess many of the neighbors have kids and claim the pool is a benefit, but even when we are not in a plague it seldom has many people in it. If I had my druthers the pool would be filled in and the area turned into a dog park. There is little doubt in my mind that a dog part would ALWAYS be crowded judging by the number of dog walkers I see in the neighborhood.
Re: Windows 93
Oh my, you wouldn't believe what all the kids drive around on the streets down here.
All of them are much more powerful than a kid should be using too.
Those little electric toys for toddlers, many of them have more power than they should.
I guess dad beefed them up as the kids got a little older.
Had to laugh though, there were two boys in a pink Barbie car sailing down the road last summer.
But you know they took that body and put if over a go-cart, because you could hear the engine whine.
My subdivision didn't have a pool, but the second subdivision extension did, and they made us pay for a small part of it, even though we never used it. It was part of the annual subdivision fee they collected.
What they did eventually do though, was they had two days a week, one on a weekend, where it was exclusive for use by our subdivision and not the new subdivision. This did get more folks to use it from our subdivision, but not that many.
Ruth's two kids got bused from school to the JCCA, and they would swim there if they wanted to swim. Then she would pick them up on her way home from work, or I would go over and pick them up if she was running late for some reason.
All of them are much more powerful than a kid should be using too.
Those little electric toys for toddlers, many of them have more power than they should.
I guess dad beefed them up as the kids got a little older.
Had to laugh though, there were two boys in a pink Barbie car sailing down the road last summer.
But you know they took that body and put if over a go-cart, because you could hear the engine whine.
My subdivision didn't have a pool, but the second subdivision extension did, and they made us pay for a small part of it, even though we never used it. It was part of the annual subdivision fee they collected.
What they did eventually do though, was they had two days a week, one on a weekend, where it was exclusive for use by our subdivision and not the new subdivision. This did get more folks to use it from our subdivision, but not that many.
Ruth's two kids got bused from school to the JCCA, and they would swim there if they wanted to swim. Then she would pick them up on her way home from work, or I would go over and pick them up if she was running late for some reason.
Re: Windows 93
You bring up a good point about paying for swimming. I too must pay an annual HOA fee that covers maintenance of the common grounds, among other things. Part of that fee pays the life guards at the pool and pays for whatever maintenance it requires. They issue us a pool pass that is needed in order to get into the locked pool area, which of itself is a good idea. Lose that card and it will cost you $25 to replace it. We don't use the pool and don't need no stinking pool card, but if we don't turn it in when we move out a fine will be assessed on top of the cost of the card. This extortion scheme is one more reason I'd favor turning the pool into a dog park.
I would ROFLMAO watching the kids scoot around in a Barbie-mobile. LOL I've not seen anything like that around here, and nothing that resembles a GoCart for that matter. It's all motorized mini bikes or those off road 4WD kind of things. Somebody came around during the last snow storm riding a machine that looked like a home brewed tractor. It was kind of clever, but what they did with it was insane. They tied a large shovel onto the back of the tractor and one of the kids sat on the shovel while the tractor pulled him up and down the ice covered street. I thought that was about right for the street urchins that inhabit this area, but one of the dads did the same thing. Insanity is inbred, I must say.
I would ROFLMAO watching the kids scoot around in a Barbie-mobile. LOL I've not seen anything like that around here, and nothing that resembles a GoCart for that matter. It's all motorized mini bikes or those off road 4WD kind of things. Somebody came around during the last snow storm riding a machine that looked like a home brewed tractor. It was kind of clever, but what they did with it was insane. They tied a large shovel onto the back of the tractor and one of the kids sat on the shovel while the tractor pulled him up and down the ice covered street. I thought that was about right for the street urchins that inhabit this area, but one of the dads did the same thing. Insanity is inbred, I must say.
Re: Windows 93
One of the families that lived about 6 houses east of us, the end house before the cul-de-sac, managed to buy back from the strip mall part of what was once our common ground. The strip mall couldn't use that piece of land anyhow, and built a 20 foot high retaining wall, so they could put a parking lot behind the stores at that end of the strip mall.
This guy used that area to build a 6 player regulation size tennis court. He wanted an 8 player size but could not get a permit to place it that close to his back side of the house. He still could have made it 8 player, but then it wouldn't be regulation width, which would have meant he couldn't have sanctioned tournaments there. Since the property was already zoned commercial for the strip mall, the subdivision HOA couldn't say anything about it, hi hi. Although they did complain about cars parking on the subdivision street to make use of the tennis court.
But he worked out some type of deal with the bank, that if he paid to have the part of their parking lot that was not paved to be paved, he could use that area to park up to ten cars if needed. The bank jumped on the deal, because it gave them a spot closer to the building for their big dumpster, and a brick wall surrounding it. This would ensure the trash truck always had plenty of room to empty it.
All went well for about 4 years, he sold passes to those who lived in our subdivision for like 50 bucks a year, and if they lived in the other sister subdivision like 75 bucks a year, and to all others 100 bucks a year. Everyone was happy for awhile. Then someone asked about lights so they could play at night. He got all the necessary permits to have those installed, but they had to be hooded in such a way that the lights did not hit the yards of the subdivision houses. That was doable!
But somebody had to pay for the cost of adding them, so he had coin-op meters installed, but only two of them since the lights lit up 3 playing areas. And this is when the trouble started. Non-subdivision people would come and just stay in their cars until somebody put some money in the meter to run the lights. Then they would go down and play until the lights went out. Perhaps leave, or sometimes wait in their cars until somebody paid to have the lights come on again.
His first attempt at correcting the problem was by adding a card reader to the meters and issuing cards to the subdivision members, the back subdivision member, and with no card you had to pay more to turn on the lights. This didn't even slow down the problem of folks coming and waiting until the lights came on.
But all he had to do was add a solenoid lock to the two gates and the card reader which was connected to the lights also worked the gates. Now this don't sound like it would help much, but the gates were locked and it took your card to unlock them momentarily. Now if you didn't have a card, you had to pay full price to turn on the lights and make the gate open momentarily. So somebody couldn't slip in as someone was exiting, he installed third gate as the new exit. It was between the other two gates. You just tapped a button to exit, our use the emergency handle if the electric happened to go off for some reason, that emergency handle was required by the city. This completely stopped all the freeloaders, hi hi.
Now one would think he couldn't possibly be making any money from his tennis courts. You hardly saw anyone playing if it was too cold, or too hot out, if it was raining, etc. And after the last gate was put up, not a whole lot of non-members were coming to play either.
But it turned out, a lot of subdivision member bought the annual pass, and that was more than enough to pay for the court paving, the other money for the tall vinyl clad green fence came from the back subdivision. So it was paid for in two years. The third year fees was all profit, except for paying the guys who kept the court clean of leaves and trash. The fourth year fees, about half, went to pay for the lights being installed, and the meters. Then he came up with the cards and card readers, which I'm sure cost a bit, but not more than he was taking in for sure. His income did go down after adding that third gate. Then comes my snoopy wife, talking to his blabbermouth wife, and she told my wife, that after all the expenses, including getting it resurfaced, and replacing lamps, they netted over ten grand a year they had to show on their taxes.
Oh, we have tons of kids with those 4-wheel drive small dune buggies. There is a huge field, a couple of them actually, where they all go to race around on them. Also older kids on dirt bikes too. Nobody seems to have run them off either.
My grandfather built a 9 person bobsled he pulled behind the plow horses during the snowy seasons. It was always loaded with kids from all over the place. After he passed away, it sat in a back barn for years, then my uncle Joe started getting it out again, pulling it with a small cub tractor. But mostly for family members, and a few subdivision kids. Then they got worried about liability, and had to modify the bobsled in such a way that the skis had no points on them, no places to get pinched, etc. It was that way for a few years. Then it was modified again by cousin George, by adding two rows of seats, so it now held 18 kids, was too wide to tip over, and each of the seats had sides. They were made of metal and looked like early 1940's baby strollers in a way, the seat part that is. There were now skirts on the side so the ski runners were under the skirting. But the main part of it was still the original grandpa had built, hi hi. George pulled it around with a Massey Ferguson tractor. He also pulled one of our whoopies around that was turned into a hayride for our annual picnic.
One of the drunks fell off the hayride one year and sued the florist. We had insurance, but they found a loophole to get out of paying. Thus ended our hosting the annual Des Peres Businessmen's Picnic. And the drunk who caused it, also a professional businessman, nobody in town would go to his practice after that. So he ended up selling his business, his house, and moved out of town. Serves him right!
This guy used that area to build a 6 player regulation size tennis court. He wanted an 8 player size but could not get a permit to place it that close to his back side of the house. He still could have made it 8 player, but then it wouldn't be regulation width, which would have meant he couldn't have sanctioned tournaments there. Since the property was already zoned commercial for the strip mall, the subdivision HOA couldn't say anything about it, hi hi. Although they did complain about cars parking on the subdivision street to make use of the tennis court.
But he worked out some type of deal with the bank, that if he paid to have the part of their parking lot that was not paved to be paved, he could use that area to park up to ten cars if needed. The bank jumped on the deal, because it gave them a spot closer to the building for their big dumpster, and a brick wall surrounding it. This would ensure the trash truck always had plenty of room to empty it.
All went well for about 4 years, he sold passes to those who lived in our subdivision for like 50 bucks a year, and if they lived in the other sister subdivision like 75 bucks a year, and to all others 100 bucks a year. Everyone was happy for awhile. Then someone asked about lights so they could play at night. He got all the necessary permits to have those installed, but they had to be hooded in such a way that the lights did not hit the yards of the subdivision houses. That was doable!
But somebody had to pay for the cost of adding them, so he had coin-op meters installed, but only two of them since the lights lit up 3 playing areas. And this is when the trouble started. Non-subdivision people would come and just stay in their cars until somebody put some money in the meter to run the lights. Then they would go down and play until the lights went out. Perhaps leave, or sometimes wait in their cars until somebody paid to have the lights come on again.
His first attempt at correcting the problem was by adding a card reader to the meters and issuing cards to the subdivision members, the back subdivision member, and with no card you had to pay more to turn on the lights. This didn't even slow down the problem of folks coming and waiting until the lights came on.
But all he had to do was add a solenoid lock to the two gates and the card reader which was connected to the lights also worked the gates. Now this don't sound like it would help much, but the gates were locked and it took your card to unlock them momentarily. Now if you didn't have a card, you had to pay full price to turn on the lights and make the gate open momentarily. So somebody couldn't slip in as someone was exiting, he installed third gate as the new exit. It was between the other two gates. You just tapped a button to exit, our use the emergency handle if the electric happened to go off for some reason, that emergency handle was required by the city. This completely stopped all the freeloaders, hi hi.
Now one would think he couldn't possibly be making any money from his tennis courts. You hardly saw anyone playing if it was too cold, or too hot out, if it was raining, etc. And after the last gate was put up, not a whole lot of non-members were coming to play either.
But it turned out, a lot of subdivision member bought the annual pass, and that was more than enough to pay for the court paving, the other money for the tall vinyl clad green fence came from the back subdivision. So it was paid for in two years. The third year fees was all profit, except for paying the guys who kept the court clean of leaves and trash. The fourth year fees, about half, went to pay for the lights being installed, and the meters. Then he came up with the cards and card readers, which I'm sure cost a bit, but not more than he was taking in for sure. His income did go down after adding that third gate. Then comes my snoopy wife, talking to his blabbermouth wife, and she told my wife, that after all the expenses, including getting it resurfaced, and replacing lamps, they netted over ten grand a year they had to show on their taxes.
Oh, we have tons of kids with those 4-wheel drive small dune buggies. There is a huge field, a couple of them actually, where they all go to race around on them. Also older kids on dirt bikes too. Nobody seems to have run them off either.
My grandfather built a 9 person bobsled he pulled behind the plow horses during the snowy seasons. It was always loaded with kids from all over the place. After he passed away, it sat in a back barn for years, then my uncle Joe started getting it out again, pulling it with a small cub tractor. But mostly for family members, and a few subdivision kids. Then they got worried about liability, and had to modify the bobsled in such a way that the skis had no points on them, no places to get pinched, etc. It was that way for a few years. Then it was modified again by cousin George, by adding two rows of seats, so it now held 18 kids, was too wide to tip over, and each of the seats had sides. They were made of metal and looked like early 1940's baby strollers in a way, the seat part that is. There were now skirts on the side so the ski runners were under the skirting. But the main part of it was still the original grandpa had built, hi hi. George pulled it around with a Massey Ferguson tractor. He also pulled one of our whoopies around that was turned into a hayride for our annual picnic.
One of the drunks fell off the hayride one year and sued the florist. We had insurance, but they found a loophole to get out of paying. Thus ended our hosting the annual Des Peres Businessmen's Picnic. And the drunk who caused it, also a professional businessman, nobody in town would go to his practice after that. So he ended up selling his business, his house, and moved out of town. Serves him right!