Quirky, fun stuff like that is why I’ll never live in an HOA again. Everything like that is declared blight by the greedy realtors and mindless soccer moms running HOAs
The Hinoeumaresponded:
September 6, 2020 at 3:47 PM
There are certain things you can do in this town but, it has an Historical (Hysterical) Commission. It is MUCH bigger than a standard HOA. Ken & I routinely get letters in the mail from the Commission, informing us of some homeowner’s desire to do some sort of property improvement/change and they ask for our input (and everyone else’s in the immediate area). Ken & I don’t give a shit but, there are others that are gi-HUGIC pains in the ass about performing too many changes to the “Historic District.” When Ken bought the house in 2000, he wanted to have a different driveway (we share a concrete driveway with a neighbor…there are a lot of shared driveways in this town). They crawled up his ass about what he was going to make the driveway out of, what kind of environmental damage might be done and “no, you can’t have a garage.” On top of that, they demanded that he provide blueprints for what he wanted to do. He wasn’t going to spend large amounts of money to provide them with blueprints. He said if they wanted blueprints, THEY could pay for them. He learned early on that he had little control over his own property, following their rules. So, after that, he quietly started making improvements…the “it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.” The last time they bugged him about doing stuff was when the Maple tree in the front yard got damaged by a storm (before I moved in). He said some old biddy in a Crown Victoria stopped in front of the house when the tree was being pruned and reshaped. “Who told you could do that? Have you talked with the Commission about trimming your tree?” (They have a tree commission, too, BTW…). His response? “Lady, if you don’t like what is going on with this tree, you need to talk to HIM (pointing towards the sky).”
In 2018, we had two large snowstorms: https://cosmic-observation.com/2018/12/09/shutterbug-sunday-snow-bombs-2018/
The Cedar in that suffered from both of those and split in half, hitting the corner of the house. Down it came. No one said a word. Prior to that, in 2016 we had two BIG Cedars in the back yard come down from heavy rains due to Matthew (luckily, sideways). Ken made the decision to have all of them cut down (the original owner had had eight planted too close together in the 1940s and they were all half-dead). No one said a word about that and they sure as hell couldn’t miss the great big green Davey Tree Service trucks.
If what you want in your yard or on your house is eclectic and artsy-fartsy (or a stupid sign declaring how “woke” you are), they, apparently, don’t mind. If you want to remodel an old house or change the structure of the property, they want to know if you are going to mess up any of Hillsborough’s history. At that point, they WILL bring flashlights for your ass and will want you to draw pictures for them.
Oh trust me, I know all about historic districts and commissions. They’re all over California also and operate with a California zeal for telling everybody how to live.
My mom lives in Placerville, AKA Old Hangtown. Heart of Gold Discovery country, site of the first hanging in California, etc… etc… etc… Anything near downtown is so heavily regulated that folks can’t even repair their houses when they develop problems. It might take away from the historic preservation of the area *rolleyes*
Our HOA tried to get our subdivision declared a historic landmark based on it being 40 years old and built by architects that studied under a modestly well-known mid-century modern architect.
The HOA board was made up of greedy realtors and bored housewives who only saw dollar signs and the ability to further micromanage the HOA. The rest of us knew this meant going to the state or county government for approval of the paint you wanted to use inside or out of your house and told the board to go perform an anatomical impossibility
The Hinoeumaresponded:
September 6, 2020 at 3:59 PM
There are a lot of interesting things in this town but, so far, I haven’t seen a unicorn. Well, at least, nothing in anyone’s yard…yet. I have seen human unicorns in the Handmade Puppets parade and some Gay Pride stuff.
The Hinoeumaresponded:
September 6, 2020 at 5:20 PM
OMG! Linda! You are a Doyle!!! One of my favorite actors/talk radio guy was Jerry Doyle (ever saw Babylon 5?).
“I think I have always had a longing in my soul to visit the ancient United Kingdom.” GIRL! I have been drawn to the UK most of my life, too. My last name is Jones (Welsh), my paternal-maternal GGM was a McPherson, my maternal-maternal GGM was a Rudd (Welsh) with some Evans & Moore thrown in (Welsh & Irish, respectively). It’s a magical place for us.
My mother’s people were from the South, but way back in time from WALES!!! and the maternal grandmother is from the Wootton of Queen Elizabeth fame, then there are the Shipleys straight on the ship from England and, of course the Doyles. 🙂 Magic for sure
September 6, 2020 at 7:17 AM
Nessies have moved inland!
LikeLike
September 6, 2020 at 3:16 PM
Gotta watch ’em! LOL!
That reminds me, in your travels, have you ever made it to Scotland?
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 14, 2020 at 9:07 PM
No to Scotland, I’ve never been out of the U.S.
LikeLike
September 14, 2020 at 9:29 PM
Yeah. Me, neither. *sigh*
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 6, 2020 at 7:25 AM
Quirky, fun stuff like that is why I’ll never live in an HOA again. Everything like that is declared blight by the greedy realtors and mindless soccer moms running HOAs
LikeLike
September 6, 2020 at 3:47 PM
There are certain things you can do in this town but, it has an Historical (Hysterical) Commission. It is MUCH bigger than a standard HOA. Ken & I routinely get letters in the mail from the Commission, informing us of some homeowner’s desire to do some sort of property improvement/change and they ask for our input (and everyone else’s in the immediate area). Ken & I don’t give a shit but, there are others that are gi-HUGIC pains in the ass about performing too many changes to the “Historic District.” When Ken bought the house in 2000, he wanted to have a different driveway (we share a concrete driveway with a neighbor…there are a lot of shared driveways in this town). They crawled up his ass about what he was going to make the driveway out of, what kind of environmental damage might be done and “no, you can’t have a garage.” On top of that, they demanded that he provide blueprints for what he wanted to do. He wasn’t going to spend large amounts of money to provide them with blueprints. He said if they wanted blueprints, THEY could pay for them. He learned early on that he had little control over his own property, following their rules. So, after that, he quietly started making improvements…the “it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.” The last time they bugged him about doing stuff was when the Maple tree in the front yard got damaged by a storm (before I moved in). He said some old biddy in a Crown Victoria stopped in front of the house when the tree was being pruned and reshaped. “Who told you could do that? Have you talked with the Commission about trimming your tree?” (They have a tree commission, too, BTW…). His response? “Lady, if you don’t like what is going on with this tree, you need to talk to HIM (pointing towards the sky).”
In 2018, we had two large snowstorms:
https://cosmic-observation.com/2018/12/09/shutterbug-sunday-snow-bombs-2018/
The Cedar in that suffered from both of those and split in half, hitting the corner of the house. Down it came. No one said a word. Prior to that, in 2016 we had two BIG Cedars in the back yard come down from heavy rains due to Matthew (luckily, sideways). Ken made the decision to have all of them cut down (the original owner had had eight planted too close together in the 1940s and they were all half-dead). No one said a word about that and they sure as hell couldn’t miss the great big green Davey Tree Service trucks.
If what you want in your yard or on your house is eclectic and artsy-fartsy (or a stupid sign declaring how “woke” you are), they, apparently, don’t mind. If you want to remodel an old house or change the structure of the property, they want to know if you are going to mess up any of Hillsborough’s history. At that point, they WILL bring flashlights for your ass and will want you to draw pictures for them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 6, 2020 at 4:08 PM
Oh trust me, I know all about historic districts and commissions. They’re all over California also and operate with a California zeal for telling everybody how to live.
My mom lives in Placerville, AKA Old Hangtown. Heart of Gold Discovery country, site of the first hanging in California, etc… etc… etc… Anything near downtown is so heavily regulated that folks can’t even repair their houses when they develop problems. It might take away from the historic preservation of the area *rolleyes*
Our HOA tried to get our subdivision declared a historic landmark based on it being 40 years old and built by architects that studied under a modestly well-known mid-century modern architect.
The HOA board was made up of greedy realtors and bored housewives who only saw dollar signs and the ability to further micromanage the HOA. The rest of us knew this meant going to the state or county government for approval of the paint you wanted to use inside or out of your house and told the board to go perform an anatomical impossibility
LikeLike
September 6, 2020 at 6:34 PM
People drunk on power. There is a remedy for that but, it’s frowned upon.
LikeLike
September 6, 2020 at 9:10 AM
That’s brilliant. More than I have witnessed at Loch Ness.
LikeLike
September 6, 2020 at 3:53 PM
It is cute.
LikeLike
September 6, 2020 at 9:23 AM
I think that yard also needs a unicorn.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 6, 2020 at 3:59 PM
There are a lot of interesting things in this town but, so far, I haven’t seen a unicorn. Well, at least, nothing in anyone’s yard…yet. I have seen human unicorns in the Handmade Puppets parade and some Gay Pride stuff.
I like your Unicorn persona (fascination? obsession?). I have a thing for dragons. I have several on my site in the sidebar. I also have a stuffed dragon, that roars, riding shotgun in my truck:
https://cosmic-observation.com/2020/04/26/potd-strawberries-dragon/
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 6, 2020 at 4:15 PM
For me, the unicorn symbolizes unique experiences. That’s what I think life is all about, the pursuit of that which is new and unique.
I like your dragon, and those strawberries make my mouth water.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 6, 2020 at 6:35 PM
I agree…on all points.
LikeLiked by 2 people
September 6, 2020 at 11:39 AM
I have one!!! I need to show you. Go here: https://coloradofarmlife.com/2014/06/02/more-about-dragons-june-2-2014/ It’s not as big. I get a kick out of seeing it.
LikeLike
September 6, 2020 at 5:20 PM
OMG! Linda! You are a Doyle!!! One of my favorite actors/talk radio guy was Jerry Doyle (ever saw Babylon 5?).
“I think I have always had a longing in my soul to visit the ancient United Kingdom.” GIRL! I have been drawn to the UK most of my life, too. My last name is Jones (Welsh), my paternal-maternal GGM was a McPherson, my maternal-maternal GGM was a Rudd (Welsh) with some Evans & Moore thrown in (Welsh & Irish, respectively). It’s a magical place for us.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 6, 2020 at 5:25 PM
My mother’s people were from the South, but way back in time from WALES!!! and the maternal grandmother is from the Wootton of Queen Elizabeth fame, then there are the Shipleys straight on the ship from England and, of course the Doyles. 🙂 Magic for sure
LikeLike
September 6, 2020 at 6:37 PM
Awesome!
LikeLike
September 6, 2020 at 12:40 PM
Puff the Magic Dragon or Loch Ness? This is really cool.
LikeLike
September 6, 2020 at 6:28 PM
Not sure. No one home to ask.
LikeLiked by 1 person
September 6, 2020 at 3:26 PM
Cement?
LikeLike
September 6, 2020 at 6:32 PM
I would guess. No one home to ask.
LikeLike
September 14, 2020 at 2:13 PM
I always liked Puff the Magic Dragon. 🙂 I am going to pretend its him and not the monster. It is creative!
LikeLike
September 14, 2020 at 4:04 PM
I loved the song. I loved the original “Pete’s Dragon.” Did I tell you that I have a stuffed dragon that rides shotgun in my truck?
LikeLike