In theory I should be writing a blog today

Trouble is that I’ve become so disgusted by the news I can’t even look at it without going all rage monster.

So I’m not looking at it.

As far as what’s going on around here just a little yard work. 

I pruned the heck out of my apple tree. It responded by doing this.

I’m hoping that I’ll have normal sized apples this fall. Last year I have a ton of mini apples that turned into great apple butter & apple sauce. They weren’t all that good to eat due to the size.

The yard work has been good for my sense of wellbeing. 

I haven’t been able to plant anything though. Usually by this time of year the hardware store has nice plants that I incorporate into the landscape for the season.

This year due to the lockdown those plants aren’t available. So the yard may look a little more like the surface of the moon.

I’m also hesitant to plant anything because last year the County decided that a plant that had been in my yard since 1992 absolutely had to be removed. Suddenly this plant was the worst thing on the planet and they were threatening fines if I kept it.

I had to pay to have it removed.

But I noticed that other neighbors didn’t remove their versions of this plant, and they weren’t fined or asked to remove them.

The funny part of this is that the plant in my yard was no larger the 3ft by 3 feet and was at the outer edge of the yard bounded by the driveway and the street. It was also maintained to be no larger than 3”x3”. Ironically for that plant being such a fire hazard, when the house burned in 2008, all the plants survived!

I find that I’m losing interest in maintaining my yard and have considered just killing everything out front.

Every year, some bozo from the county comes around and bitches about something and start imposing fines. They claim it’s for fire control.

What pisses me off about it is that I’ve got more than the recommended defensive space around the house.

I moved here 70 miles outside LA, because I didn’t want anyone telling me what I could and couldn’t do on my own property. While I don’t have an HOA, I do have county busybodies telling me what I can do.

I’m considering putting a sign up in the yard this year. Something that says;

“Hey County, you’ve fucked up our street, your flood control project made things worse, you’re spending yet more money to build a higher bridge, (Which we told you to do 10 years ago, instead of your plan to build a sluice,) So fuck off! Leave me alone, don’t set foot on my property, and fuck your fines if you don’t like the plants in my yard!“

What burns me about this so much is that I worked and continue to work really hard to plant native plants in the yard. With just a few exceptions everything is drought resistant and native to this area.  I try to have something blooming year round. Natives can be very pretty and easy to care for.

But having to deal with annoying letters and threats of fines year after year and explaining what each plant in the yard is year after year is getting tiresome.

Which is why I’m considering a lunar surface model, at least in the front.

If I go that route, the sign in the front will read; “Dear neighbors, This Lunar surface representation courtesy of the County. I got tired of the threats.“

I could move a lot of the plants to the back, then install a wooden fence to prevent the county from seeing anything from the street. God forbid some bozo would actually have to get out of their car and look.

Maybe I’m just reacting to the lockdown, Nope! I’m reacting the constant erosion of my rights by power mad jackasses who decide arbitrarily what is for my own good.

I’m really thinking it’s time for me to leave kommifornia. The way the news and politics are going here in the USA, maybe it’s time to ask about becoming a citizen of another country entirely.