Our Old House in Ohio

On Sunday in Ohio, after doing our running around, we stopped at N. Tulane. The egg tray (which I had forgotten was in the pantry at the old house) had gotten packed by the movers. Although I had it and more of the paperwork for the new windows we put in there all put aside, with plans to mail them, that never happened. So, I brought it all along and figured I could drop it off at the house.

We had a nice visit with the Jurkoviches who were next door to us. They have a daughter the same age as Brian. They also have Mickey's brother, Comet. We also had a nice visit with Charlene Ballard across the street. Their daughter, Larissa, is expecting her second child. Larissa is a couple of years older than Anne. It was really nice to see the old neighbors and catch up on news.

We think the McClammas were home, as the garage was open, but since there wasn't really anything to talk about, and we needed to get moving, we just went up and put the bag with the egg tray, etc in it on the door knob. It was interesting to see the house again, and to see what all had changed. It looks to me like they were pretty ambitious and perhaps got a little ahead of themselves. They took out the pine tree at the front corner of the house. The one that was way too close to the house, and that we had sometimes considered taking out, but it was easier to think about than to do!!!!! Most of the bushes in the front along the house were gone. Most of the bushes in the area next to the garage (before you get to the courtyard) were gone. I think the big rock was still there! When we went up to the door, we saw that the whole courtyard had been emptied, and was now full of rough earth and weeds. They took out the dogwood, the vinca ground cover, the nice bush, everything. There were a number of pots of plants around near the front, most were dead, but there were a few that were newer and still alive. One really nice spot was by the mailbox. They had taken out that big bush that I hated (too hard to watch for traffic, and it kept scraping my car!) and that area was nicely planted with red and white flowers. Really did look pretty! I think the clematis is gone, but it was getting smaller each year anyway and not blooming as much. I never got a chance to see what they might have done to the side of the house. We did notice that at the side closest to Jurkoviches, they had a storage barn in the back yard. A pretty good sized one, red, etc. Looked nice. The other trees in the front were still in place and even bigger than when we were last there. That was one thing we noticed everywhere while we were in Ohio, how much bigger all the trees were.

It would be interesting to see what it all looks like when they finish with the landscaping. Most of the bushes were horribly overgrown, and really hid the house, so I do understand why they took out so many of them. I did think it was a shame about the dogwood, but then we never know, it might have finally hit the end of the road. I know each year there were new sections that had died. Perhaps it just reached the point that too much was dead. It was always really pretty in the spring when in bloom. Oh, it did look like the flaming bush in the front was still there.

I will tell you about some changes at the base next time, unless something more interesting comes up!!!