Snif

So you remember the Little Blue House, right?  And all our beautiful beds and flowers?  Well, they are all gone.

Mulch and I visited the DMV last weekend and of course had to buzz by our old house, which we haven't seen in 1.5 years. We were taking bets on what the new owners might have done with the yard.  I expected the flowers to probably be gone -- after all, they WERE a lot of trouble -- and maybe a bunch of low-to-no-maintenance shrubs put in their place.

But what I didn't expect was for the entire BEDS to be removed along with every single plant and shrub except for the zebra grass, replaced with weedy bare lawn.

Big bed, lamp post bed, and lamp post: gone!

Formerly one of the prettiest views.

Day lilies and veg garden: gone.

Nice clear view of that damned Airstream, though.

I admit it:  I cried. Not because the new homeowners don't have every right to do what they want with their own yard (of course they do), but because what once was a beautiful, welcoming, inviting Little Blue House is now just... a little blue house, stripped of any character.

I'm glad we couldn't see the back yard because I fear what has become of The Backyard Paradise. If the Lucy tree was gone, I would have gone to pieces.

I really don't blame the new owners, especially since we think they have little kids.  That yard was a lot of work. It was just shocking to see the results of all our loving labor over eight years not neglected or replaced, but just erased, leaving a blank.

Luckily, Mulch and I came home to the Bigger Blue House which, though the yard has been neglected since Spring, still looks much more inviting and lovely than the Virginia house.  Time to get back to work!