Yup, I finally made it back to Orange County, long drive which my back did not appreciate but it's always good to get home!

I did have fun staying at my BFF Kathy's house though, she worked 24/7 so I didn't get to see her much but when I did we had fun,  she managed to have a wonderful formal night out , she and some others where she works at Prudential have been volunteering (I think it's for the Huntsman Institute) and they invited all the volunteers to a dinner to say thank you, here she is in the gorgeous dress she got for the occasion.

Kathy Rothe

I didn't get the house rented out yet but I'm optimistic as always.  Had a lot of calls and it appears I am now famous because of the video I created, as soon as I answer the phone I get "you're the woman from the video!" and "you look just like the video!'. (see previous post for the link). Fame and fortune at last, well sort of fame and I'm definitely still waiting on the fortune bit.

Got back in time to see all the annuals I planted on their last legs, barely saw them bloom, the water shortage down here is so bad you are restricted to watering three days a week and even then for a very limited time. I planted petunias as I know they love the heat and are pretty drought tolerant, I guess they aren't that drought tolerant.

Still, one of the best things about being in a rental, if the lawn dies and I have at least done whatever I could to save it, it all ends up being an SEP! (someone else's problem).

I really am trying to keep the place nice, I do have to live here after all, I just wish some of my tenants had the same attitude. It's amazing how a tenant will feel they don't have to lift a finger because it's not "their" house, one of my tenants saw a mouse and wanted me to call in the exterminators, sorry? what part of "go buy a mouse trap didn't you understand?"

Our contracts specifically state that they have a responsibility to keep the house and yard in good order but when I do a property inspection I find the beds knee deep in weeds and/or large brown spots in the lawn where a sprinkler has malfunctioned. I get a bit upset because these are high end homes, if they didn't want to do "anything" why didn't they get a cheap apartment where they aren't expected to do anything?

Sorry, gripe session over LOL. I do have some fantastic tenants that really do look after their homes and they are a joy. I will fall over backwards doing anything I can to help them or sort a problem BECAUSE they are so nice. You do get what you sew in this life and if someone helps me by keeping a house in top shape then I obviously am going to help them.

The weather here is pretty good right now, they had a heat wave while I was gone which is pretty normal for the middle of August but now its back to normal, between 80F and 88F most days and nice and sunny to boot.  Utah was very hot hovering around 100F most days and even if it was lower than that it felt hotter if you were out in it fixing sprinklers! 

Bane of  my existence they are.  I could pay someone to sort them out and have done in the past but those guys are expensive and sometimes even after I've paid them they haven't done the job properly.  I paid someone in the spring to check all the drips and micro sprays on all the plants, he assured me they were all working and he even put in some extras.  I found 2 dead shrubs where the sprays either were not working or there was none.  Some shrubs were barely hanging in there even though they had no drip or spray so I had about 7 drips/sprays to put in while I was there,  errrrm, tell me again what I paid $400 for in the spring?

Here's how some of the trees and stuff have fared after 1 year.

5 'Purple Robe' planted 1 year ago.

New Conifer 1 yr old Aug 2010 (the one the landscapers planted died, we planted this one!)

Apple Tree at  Woodsmere Lane Aug 2010, this was nothing but a stick when it went in last year, lets just hope the branches hold up under the weight of all that fruit!

Another Apple tree that was a stick last year , Aug 2010

Here's the spindly trees waiting to go in last year, to have fruited in the first year is pretty good..