Neighbors

Ant and I aren’t used to being “neighborly.” But we are learning quickly how to be because we are surrounded by some great neighbors. Kathy and Lenny are to our left and are such kind and generous people. Lenny is a contractor and has let us know that he is here to help, give advice, etc. I tried to hire him to fix our bathrooms, but he politely let me know  that you don’t hire neighbors. I told Ant that I had asked Lenny to do the bathroom work and he said, “He’s right. Of course you don’t hire neighbors.” So now I have to find a bathroom guy.

Then there are the Wessenbergs to our right- Nancy and Joel. They invited us over for a glass of wine and to show us the work they had done on their house the second week after we moved in. It was during this visit that Nancy informed me  I had to mulch my garden with “chicken and chips,” because this mulch both fertilizes your plants and keeps the weeds at bay. I think “chicken and chips” is a Seattle term because when I googled it to find out where I could get some, the only match I found was a mention of it in a Seattle Times gardening article.

Well, one day Nancy shows up at our front door with her landscaper. “Tom is getting some chicken and chips for our garden, would you like him to get some for you too?”

He estimated how much I needed and one Friday morning a few weeks ago, a big truck arrived and dumped a HUGE, steaming load of chicken shit onto our driveway!

I just finished spreading the last of it on Thursday and I used every bit of it. I would have never of known how much I actually needed. To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t have followed through with getting this mulch, because if it doesn’t fit in the back of my Prius, it doesn’t make it to my garden.

I’m learning, good neighbors (and their landscapers) are priceless. Now I have to figure out how I can reciprocate.