SCORE! WIN-WIN!

Our town house is located among those that originally circled a vacant field. We got used to the fact that the field was a handy place to exercise the dogs. Then the unthinkable happened – the owner died and the lot was put on the market.

Attempting to establish a privacy heldge

“We should buy that lot,” I said to Mike – and then our next-door neighbor suggested it, too – and Mike did look into it, but the asking price was high, and he thought of other things, such as maintenance, insurance, property taxes, etc. He decided we didn’t want in.

And then the lot sold, and the new owners built a house smack-dab behind us, looking right down over the back of our house and into the bathroom. The plus side is that we are acquainted with "Tom" (not his real name) since he went to school with our children, and it’s nice to have a young family in the neighborhood, but still, the privacy to which we had been accustomed is gone. So, Mike researched different types of hedges for the top of our bank and decided on Leyland Cypress, which a friend has used successfully.

Three Leyland Cypress

Tom is an excavator, so the other day when he was pushing dirt around in his own yard, Mike asked him to come and dig holes for the trees with his machine. In minutes, he made three holes that would have taken hours to dig by hand – not to mention the pain and suffering. And then Tom said, “I see you working on bicycles here. I wonder if you would look at my bike. I’ve had it to the shop twice, and it’s still not right.” He explained that under torque (riding up hills), it would slip gears.

And that’s when I said to myself, “Score! Win-win! We have holes for the trees, and Mike has another bicycle to work on.” Building and maintaining bicycles is one of his hobby interests.

Mike hauls manure up the bank

Immediately the bike was delivered to our shop. Later Mike commented, “If the pros couldn’t find it, how can I?” But I told him I had faith in him. A bike is a simple contraption, after all. It could be this, or it could be that, but it IS one of those things, and it’s identifiable.

And so it was that Mike identified a worn cassette (the sprockets). He put a spare cassette on the bike and had Tom try it out. Problem solved! Then they made arrangements for Mike to order the part and complete the repair.

Oh! And yesterday (Wednesday, April 3), Mike and I planted the cypress trees. The neighbor across the street willingly contributed horse manure from his substantial supply, and we worked it in with the dirt. Then Mike was pleased to discover that the drip system he reworked last fall is still operational. It was a good day! KW