I’m not fond of returning home from vacation. Even if I’ve only been away for a day or two, my priorities have been realigned; suddenly everything screams out for attention. The lawn, the garden, the fridge, everything. Despite knowing better, I throw myself into fixing it all. It’s exhausting.
Until Friday. This time, after two sleeps away at my brother and sister-in-law’s home up the coast, I returned home to a miracle.
He Did What?
As I mentioned in a previous post, dealing with my lawn problem was one of my big goals this summer. Why? It’s infested with horrid little chafer beetle grubs that are irresistible to crows, raccoons and skunks. They tear up the lawn in an effort to gobble them up.
I won’t bore you with the details of the solution except to say that it involves reseeding, nematodes, a water permit and watering. A hell of a lot of watering. 14 days of straight watering. All bundled up with plenty of guilt. As our part of the world is under a strict water ban, most of my dear neighbours haven’t been watering their lawns. Therefore, despite the enormous, bright orange permit slapped onto my front window, I felt horrifically guilty each time I slunk out the front door at 6:00 AM to turn on the sprinkler. My neighbours were getting by with the merest of trickles and McKenzie was flamboyantly flinging water everywhere. Just TypiKel.
However, I stuck with it.
Dr. Chafer Beetle Pro at my local garden shop also recommended I keep the lawn at least 3 inches long during August so when I left for our two night stay the grass was extra long; you could barely make out the front sidewalk.
I returned home to this.
A front yard that was neat and tidy and trim.
And this miracle in the back yard.
I can’t remember the last time a hose under my care was coiled.
And finally this magical gem.
Actually there are two items to note in the photo above. A few days ago you had to fight through the overgrown laurel hedge to get to that gate latch which was previously dangling by one screw.
What brought about this series of wondrous miracles?
Nope not her.
It was the fellow whom I simply asked to please splash water into our backyard pots and hanging baskets.
Lord knows how long it took him to restore order.
I am deeply grateful. Thanks, D.
Enough about me and my kind-hearted friend. I’m curious about you. Have you ever been treated to random acts of kindness such as this? Any idea about an appropriate thank you? Booze? Cigars? Better yet, want his number? If you’d care to share, I’d love to hear.
52 Responses
Gosh, I was hoping maybe you could send him my way! My husband seems to be suffering from “out of sight, out of mind” this summer :)!
Oh, Lana, let me check with his wife on his availability …
What a gem ! How lovely to come home to that , I think booze is definitely in order !!
My thoughts exactly, Jane. The SB card left by the watering can isn’t quite enough …
I won’t even tell you what delights come the way of a household fixer-upper who creates so much magnificence for free and without nagging at my house. It’s scandalous. (At the very least, a kiss on the cheek and a chocolate bar…)
Grinning here! I’m with you on that point. You’ve reminded me of yet another kindness this chap delivered to me. My husband was rather ill and in hospital and I came home late at night to a basket of chocolate and other goodies at the back door.
Yes, I want his number. Thanks!
What is it with returning home that makes us all get in a tizzy? I cleaned my house when I got home from vacation last week. WHY o WHY would I do that? The dirt actually bothered me more than lounging around on my couch looking at the dirt appealed to me.
Exactly, Katy. That is how it always is for me too. I mean honestly – it’s not really that much dirtier than it was before we left, is it? Why does it bother us so much on the return? I shall check with D’s wife and get back to you on his availability.
Wow!
Last year someone spread salt on our driveway when winter weather was forecast. Never found out who did it.
Oh that is also very kind, Kathy. Love that they didn’t need you to know it was them who did it.
Last year, when I destroyed the hubby’s lawnmower our neighbor mowed our grass. I went to the farmer’s market and bought his wife a beautiful mum. I figured “Happy wife, Happy life”!
Oh I remember this. I think you blogged about how he came over with his huge mower and efficiently did the job. So lovely. And I’m liking your purchase. “Happy wife, happy life” indeed. Thanks for the brilliant suggestion.
This is a fantasy. It has to be! If it isn’t, could there be a brother of this guy who would just check on my fridge? Maybe prune back some overgrown leftovers?
Grinning here, Debi. Thank you for stopping by and leaving this brilliant remark. I’ll get on it right away. He does have a brother – let me check with their wives on availabilities …
Wow, that’s so cool. Nothing beats random acts of kindness. Someone once paid for lunch for me, my son and my friend and her son because she saw that we were having a tough time with our kids (long story). She paid our bill without us knowing and left the restaurant. It made our day for sure.
That is the kindest thing – to pay for your meals. Wow. And to not let you know? Brilliant.
Ha! I can’t remember the last time a hose in my care was properly coiled, either. What a kind neighbor you have. I see some neighborly baking-in-thanks in your future…
However there is one problem on the baking front, Harmony. He’s married to the world’s best baker. You should taste her pastry!
I love my little magical friends…..the ‘paint fairies’! They always come to my rescue. Just last night they paid me a visit….I had been so frustrated with a painting I was working on and I went to bed saying a little prayer… hoping for some type of intervention or help. Next morning, as I gazed upon my art, it was clear my little friends had paid me a visit. The painting did not look nearly as bad as it had the night before…yes, clearly there were little areas of perfection. Hope is restored!
Blessings on those magical paint fairies, Debbie! Yes, indeed. My mom would call it “a kind mind.” She delights in going to bed with a problem and waking up to the solution. Her kind mind went to work for her while she was sleeping. It’s all about the hope, isn’t it. I find that with writing. I’ll go to bed thinking my words are duller than dull and then gingerly revisit them in the morning. Huh. If I switched that paragraph and subbed in another word here … yay! Salvation. Fairies – all kinds – are magical.
I’m convinced you live in a magical land Kelly – between a cycle-riding gnome and an angelic neighbor what other explanation is there?
I’m pretty sure if I were in your shoes, I’d find a way to take another vacation and ask him to take care of something INSIDE the house. Who knows what fabulousity in the tidying-up department you might arrive home to. 🙂
Oh now you’ve hit on a brilliant suggestion there, Deborah. Hmmmm. There is a heck of a lot of things on offer in that department. However, my son is still here for another week and my daughter is here for at least two so I’d best get them on it. Off to draw up a list. Many, many thanks.
Of course I want his number – think he would travel to Montana?
My guess is that this blog post and your already expressed gratitude would be more than enough o a thank you for such a generous person.
We once returned home in the wee hours of the morning after a marathon flight and a 2 hour drive through near blizzard conditions. I was sure our car wouldn’t make it up our snowed-in driveway. Imagine my delight, when the headlights showed that someone (we still don’t know who!) had plowed it for our arrival!
Oh wow -that is absolutely lovely, Susan. The fact that they didn’t need to tell you who they were makes it all that more special. You’ve reminded me of the time my son and I flew into Ottawa and in the middle of a record snow storm had to drive the rental car to our b and b. We somehow managed to arrive safely only to find they’d not shovelled. Anything. We had to park in the middle of the street and help shovel. Ah well. Makes us giggle now on reflection.
Yes, your watering would definitely make you stand out in our neighborhood where we’re all redoing lawns in favor of drought tolerant landscaping. Will look good when it’s done, but at the moment we look like giant gophers had their way. Glad you found someone who helps, though. Haven’t come upon any of those here, either, other than the occasional advice-giver. 🙂
I thought of you when I wrote the post, Linda. My niece lives in LA and several folks on her street are chucking their lawns in favour of drought tolerant landscaping. It’s a great idea. Apparently we here in BC are at the northern tip of the California drought so I suspect that concept will soon be in favour here too. Sorry about your verbal advice givere neighbours. That’s tough. Having said that, we had new folks move in next door and I’ve only chatted with the husband. He needed me to move my car and was in such a rush he didn’t tell me his name! Hopefully that was just “move in day” syndrome and we’ll become neighbourly. I’ll keep you posted.
Kelly, we had the same grub problem couple of years ago along with their predators who tore up our lawn. So I understand what you are going through and need to do to make things right by your lawn. As for your beyond sweet neighbor, I always think a little bit of alcohol goes a long way, assuming he partakes. Enjoy the fruits of his labor!
Ugh. Those grubs are quite something aren’t they? Apparently ours came in on boats. I naively thought my lawn would be spared. Then I saw the adult versions zooming around everywhere in the July dusk. They fly? Of course. No fence will keep them out. And yes, I’m with you on the concept that a little bit of alcohol goes a long way. Good idea. Thank you. The other night my kids and I were laughing about the teachers’ gifts they used to hand out. A friend of mine (a teacher) had mentioned that she wished her students would hold off on the coffee mugs, nylons (!) and chocolate as year end presents. So I decided to give wine to my kids’ teachers. “Nothing like being 8 and handing over a bottle to my teacher while little Suzy hands over home made shortbread, Mom.” Ooops. Too funny. And yes, Just TypiKel …
There really are kind hearted elves in this world! We were blessed in this way when not once, not twice but three times we took water in our basement in Chicago while we were in California. Each time our dear friends cleaned up the mess and worked with the plumbers to try to figure out why the d*$% sump pump failed AGAIN. We will never be able to repay these guys I call my knights in shiny black garbage bags (describing their technique for protecting their shoes while sloshing through the mess).
Nope – I’m with you. You’ll never be able to repay them. What gems. I do hope the %$#@ sump pump problem has been resolved. Of course, now that you are back in Chicago (and are able to give the knights in shiny black garbage bags a reprieve) it probably has magically fixed itself. Maybe it just missed you?
Kelly- how wonderful for you to have someone to help you out and then go over and above the call of duty. Isn’t it great to know there are special people out there in the world? We just had a big clean up around our yard as well but unfortunately we had to pay for it, ha! Still looks great though.
I am still recovering from the clean up. Had no idea how it would improve my mood to look out front and see the tidy edges winking back at me. My son leaves for college in a few days and the side of the yard still needs major work before he goes. Thank you for the reminder. He won’t thank you, but I do!
My neighbor’s been leaving tomatoes on my front step all summer. And that’s after I threatened to steal some because they had so many. Nice people rule.
How kind, Amy. How’s their peach supply? You might want to pop by for a gander …
I love the gnome photo…and have been a little tempted to steal it for myself. I love gnomes 🙂
Isn’t that a great gnome, Anna? I found her in a local gardening store along with several other ones. Got a stunning gent for my sister there as well.
What lovely neighbors you have for sure! Well, I do too…mine are frequently keeping an eye on my kids when they play outside and even giving them dinner!! <3
Even giving them dinner? Golly – that is above and beyond. I hope they never move!
Pie is almost always an appropriate “thank you.”
Normally I’d agree with you wholeheartedly, Scott. However in this instance his wife is the Pie Queen. Her pastry is to die for.
What a nice surprise to come home to! On a much smaller scale, I was tickled when my daughter came home from her team pool party yesterday. She brought a salad, and came home with the empty bowl and tongs cleaned. The mom who hosted washed it, and it made me so happy! It doesn’t have to be a big thing, right?
Man – it sure doesn’t have to be a big thing. That is just perfect, Dana. My son’s friend popped over the other day with delicious potato leak soup for him. He’s just gotten two wisdom teeth out. She forgot to take the container home. It’s clean!
What a delightful surprise. I hope you held onto the restorative nature of the break. He’s an angel!
What an insightful comment, Michelle, to hold “… onto the restorative nature of the break.” Thank you. I am.
What an AWESOME neighbor friend you have! Maybe an outdoor bbq is in order? (with beer of course) just sayin’….
Oh now there’s an idea that hasn’t been suggested yet. Thank you, Elda. And yes, he is a gem.
That is a wonderful homecoming and act of kindness all in one!
Isn’t it, Kerri? I am still in shock when I go out into the front yard and see everything all tickety-boo.
Every time I see this post in my feed I get the picture of the gnome on the motorcycle and wonder if your mom has decided to get a Harley. Not that she is a gnome, but that is something I can picture her telling you!
Oh you’ve got me grinning, Kerri. That is just so very true. She would say that to me in a heartbeat. For years now she’s been threatening to get a huge truck. Not happy that she’s no longer driving she says it would be a safe vehicle for her to drive. A Harley? That would be even better. Thanks for the smile.
Kelly, I can identify with the coiled hose remark. I am married to a guy who is OCD and it drives him crazy when I don’t put the hose away “properly.” Don’t tell him, but sometimes I do it on purpose! 🙂
Grinning here. My brother is the same. He lived with us for awhile and my house and yard were never tidier. His wife is like you and she’ll deliberately do things to drive him crazy. His kids too! They always have the cleanest windows.