Our Big Backyard

So, we've been in this house for about six months now, and we still hate it. The pipes have some kind of stagnant gunk in them that makes the water smell, all the doorframes are skewed so that the doors don't close properly, it's infested with rats (the garage, anyway), mice, coyotes, black widows, wolf spiders, squirrels (I consider them an infestation), and hornets. All the decor is circa 1972, and nothing has been repaired or maintained since about then.

This is what we were telling Grandma Cloe about. This is just one of three yellowjacket traps we have hanging near the house. This one has been up for about a week.

One of our coyote neighbors. Apparently there are mountain lions around here, too, although they supposedly never come this far down.

One may wonder, in the face of so much whining, "Why don't you just move?" We could. There are other rental houses in our area, most of which have nicer interiors for the same price. The problem is some combination of laziness and our infatuation with the yard. Even though it's overgrown and has no lawn, it's beautiful. It's up near the mountains, surrounded by trees, totally private for the kids. It's like our own world up here. Kind of like our Silverlake place, but with a much better view. We've gotten way too attached to nature and privacy to be living in Los Angeles, and this rental is the result. For what we can afford, something has to give, and that something is the actual residence, I guess!

We've been able to go hiking quite a bit in those hills - not as much as we claimed we would, though . . .

Big Trees!

Elise's new water toy. Connor thinks it's his, of course.