
So i've always thought of myself as more of a condo/loft type of gal. I've never cut the lawn in my life, i despise dirt so you will never catch me gardening or raking leaves or painting, the list is endless. The past two weeks i have spent house sitting for a friend while her and her hubby have been away on their honeymoon. Let me tell you these past 2 weeks of housesitting have confirmed what i always thought to be true.
The work that goes into her backyard on a daily basis is ridiculous. Her neighbours have these enormous trees that completely hang into and over her yard. Not only did i spend many an hour sweeping up the leaves that had fallen, but they also have a gigantor cherry tree and as you can imagine, the cherries were everywhere. Some where smushed into the deck staining and discolouring it, many were rotting and had flies all over them ewe!!!! So everyday, at least twice a day i was out there sweeping up dirty, rotting cherries full of flies because the neighbours want to enjoy a forest in their backyard.
I had a bit of trouble trying to throw out the bag that i put the rotting cherries into. She told me to just use it for the week to throw out the various remnants that i had swept up and to eventually toss the bag out on garbage day. Well you can only imagine after a few hot hot days of 100 degrees or so the state that the bag was in. Let's just say there were too many fruit flies to count and it was starting to ferment and liquify at the bottom. I actually called my dad to come and throw the bag out for me, but then did it myself *stepping out of the box people.* I did almost vomit though.

Not only did the cherries and leaves fall onto the deck, but they also fell into the pond, which also needed to be cleaned on a daily basis. As well there was clearly a problem with said pond. It had to be filled up every few days with water as the levels would go down. This involved retrieving the hose from the side of the house where the neighbours yappy dog was and dragging the hose across the yard, filling the pond and putting everything back where it belonged every other day. I also had to scoop various things from the pond along with the cherries and leaves including a huge, fat, dead, bloated white earthworm ughhhh. It was revolting.
They also have a pool that needed to be maintained. That was my first time ever vacuuming one and i was surprised that it took as long as it did. Of course i was also skimming the water daily for the leaves and bugs and other various floaters in the water. We had a few windy days which knocked a lot of leaves into the pool and thus the filter basket was constantly needing to be cleared.
So, these past few weeks have reminded me of just why i will choose condo life over owning a home in a heartbeat. I'm not into rotting cherries covered in dirty flies and big bloated dead earthworms.

Oh and a note, because i'm a whiner....i forgot to mention in my last post that in my drunken stupor trying to get into the cab, i somehow jammed my finger and it swelled up to double it's size. Luckily PP came over with a splint for my finger, but it was bloody hard doing all that work with a mangled finger. It's still swollen almost a week later ... yikes!!

16 comments:
Awwww, so sorry to see that finger, although you should try flipping the bird now. It would be all the more emphatic.
I thought last time you house-sat for them you enjoyed it a lot. Could be a different house.
Oh man I hope that the fingers gets better.
I like living in a condo as well. The only thing is you can not make as much noise as you want... i listen to music pretty loud and it does not always go over well.
Scott
LOL!!!!! HAHA Sorry to laugh, but Those cherries, and your facial expressions about the cherries were hilarious. Thats why I like concrete. Its easy to clean. I could never have a backyard like my parents, it would drive me mental.....
I thought you were posting the sparkler pictures. And I do hope your finger gets better.
Yrautca, it's the same house only that was in the cooler months. No leaves or cherries on the trees then, no pool or pond to contend with either.
Scott, I also hope it gets better. I suppose it would depend on the type of music you listen to, if it's blaring country music then i would complain too LOL.
PP the sparkler pics will turn up at some point, patience :P
I hope you're getting paid for all your work. Those people need an automatic pool cleaner (I used to work at a pool store)...it does most of the work for you.
Slop, i am a very good guest :)
Rawbean i agree about the pool cleaner. I suppose they need a cherry picker as well.
They don't pay me as i don't mind housesitting but they always get me something from their trip. Last year was a bottle of yummy booze and a cute shirt.
Sounds like you need to marry a millionaire, and just hire help for all the out door crap!
Ash you are such a wiener.
And, your friend has a ridiculously high maintenance yard.
I'm about to close on a loft near downtown this next week for many of the same reasons you mentioned about owning a house - it just seems like too much work.
On that note, I think you got a poor house-sitting deal as I thought that kind of activity usually entailed throwing wild parties at the house and eating everything in the pantry.
This is crazy talk -- CRAZY! I have a wonderful, spacious house with a backyard and I never have to do any of these things. There is absolutely no house-related chore that I have to perform daily. If houses were that much work I would never own one. Granted, I don't have my own pool, still our yard is really easy to take care of (or so Hubby tells me, I wouldn't know really). He mows every now and then, and occasionally I'll spot him trimming a bush (he he), but other than that there's nada. And, I've even offered to hire him someone to take care of those small chores if he'll let me hire someone to vacuum, dust, etc. but he always says "no." Hmmm... Our house is cake. Perhaps you should housesit here for awhile to see how easy home ownership can be.
Veggie Chef i think my friend needs to hire some help LOL.
Jennifer i agree to both comments :P
2DP i would love a loft, they are so lovely and open. As for parties, i had a few people over for pre drinks but that was about it. The partying happened at the bar.
SS i know not all houses are like this particular one. However i've never been one for outside work such as cutting the lawn, so for me a condo would be ideal.
I did not know you were from Toronto. I heard about the star trek convention. Must have been amusing. YOu should email me sometime. my email is on my blog.
Scott
You need to come up with a better story than trying to get into a cab drunk. When people ask what happened...you need to be able to say something cool like it happened when you jumped into the lake to save a drowning kid.
Linny, I always make up funny stories to go along with injuries. My eye was red and swollen for some reason last week and I told everyone that I was in a fight.
Your site is on top of my favourites - Great work I like it.
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