Gardener / Lawn guy

I have a lawn guy now.
I can't believe the deal: only $25 a week, and he comes by and mows, mulches, edges, and generally takes care of the lawn. You may recall that this was one of the conditions I set on moving to this hot, humid climate - that we hire somebody to keep the lawn mowed so I don't have to work in the heat in the summer.

As a bonus, he brings me yard clippings from other places he's worked and puts them in my compost bin. This saves him from having to dispose of them, so it's a symbiotic deal for us, and today he put the first batch in. And oh, my, it's finely shredded already. It will compost beautifully.

The soil here is an odd, marbled mix of clay and sand. The sand runs as veins through the clay, which tells me that maybe they added it back in the day when this was a sugar cane plantation (hence the name Sienna Plantation, which is what they call our planned community). This is good, because the best soil you can have is a mix of clay, sand and organic waste (compost).

The yard is already planted in St. Augustine grass, which is an awful choice in Midland because it needs lots of water - but a fine choice here in Houston because it will get lots of water, and because St. Augustine doesn't look too bad in the event that it skips a mowing. It also spreads well.

So far I have tomatoes, garlic and bell peppers in my tiny little garden. I put some cilantro seeds in there too, and we'll see if they germinate and give me some nice yummy cilantro.

So far so good. I haven't gotten any utility bills yet, so I don't know how they are going to go.

Oh, the good news: as of yesterday, we have a contract on the house in Midland. We could close as early as two weeks from now, but no later than the end of this month. We can get all the loose ends done, and then we'll have no ties to Midland except our friends and the theatre. And that's what it was all about all along.