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What’s out there?

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Do you have security lights on your house?

If you do, when they go on do you happen to get up from what you’re doing to go and check what triggered the light?

I do.

I’ve got a security light at the side of the house in the driveway so if anyone or anything enters the driveway at the start of the house it will trigger the light. The sensor reaches to the end of the driveway too so if anything comes through the backyard to the driveway it clicks on.

The other security light is right at the back door. It’s sensor covers the end portion of the driveway, maybe the first third of the garden, and of course the area in front of the back door.

My husband installed these in our first couple of weeks in the house because he’s always been nervous about thieves. We did move into a fairly safe area though so I’m not quite as worried about that as he is.

I like the lights because if I happen to go into the yard at night I have light! I can see if there’s an animal lurking in the outskirts of the lights, and of course if I happen to be out there doing my late night watering the lights make me feel a little more secure.

When I’m inside the house, if I notice that one of the lights have gone on I’ll usually get up and take a look. Most of the time it’s a cat that’s wandered down the driveway or gotten into the backyard and triggered the light. Other times it’s raccoons.

I’ve yet to discover a human in my yard, but there was a guy who drank too much last year who got into our neighbors yard. I think he camped out in the yard for a while. Then he tried to break in to their shed and broke a bit of the fence as he did it or perhaps the fence broken when he tried to climb into our yard. I’m not sure. Anyway he did get into their shed and he stole their boys small bike.

Our neighbors now have a security light. Except they don’t have it set to automatically come on? Strange.

So, back to my question … do you look outside to see what’s out there when your security lights come on? If you do – what have you discovered?






Sizzle, pop, bang – BOOM!

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On Saturday our neighbors tree caught on fire! One of the branches fell down onto the electric power line below and it started sizzling away.

I was upstairs when this happened. I looked out the window because I saw a person circling in the intersection looking down the street beside our semi detached house. I wrote it off as just someone doing something a little weird.

A few minutes later someone knocked on our door to tell us that the tree beside our neighbors- the neighbors who’s house is attached to ours was on fire!

Ahhhh!

Chris ran outside to see how bad it was and I picked up the phone to call the fire department! I got 911 on the phone and in a shaky voice told them ” the tree next to our house is burning! It’s a big maple, a branch fell on the electric power line!”

Of course, as would happen, I’d just had a shower and my hair was wet and all over the place. Never the less I ran outside to have a look for myself.

By this time it appeared the fire was stopping or slowing down. I went back inside the house to at least comb my hair … our houses weren’t on fire and the tree didn’t look like it was going to fall .. and the phone rang. This time it was the police calling me just to verify the info that I’d told them and to let me know that fire trucks and police were on the way.

As I was on the phone there was a loud explosion! A big bang! Of course I’m freaking out a bit as I’m talking to the police after that! LOL

I later found out that the explosion was the electric box that the wires powering the adjoining street, and our neighbors house went into. Amazingly we still had power.

In the end the fire contained itself and Hydro – our Toronto power company, came along to reset the electricity – one whole street was out but our house still had power – and I think they trimmed the tree too.

It was an exciting few hours but in the end didn’t amount to all that much.

I did learn a few things though … the tree was burning for at least 10 minutes before I called the fire department. Others were aware that there was a fire – especially when you consider the person walking strangely across the street that I’d seen from my upstairs window.

I was the only person to call 911.

The neighbor who’s house was affected was so scared he stayed inside the house!

Hello people .. if your house has a huge chance of catching on fire get the heck out! Number one rule!

So I guess I live in a neighborhood filled with people who have no clue what to do in an emergency situation. Gee that makes me feel better.

The many benefits of Gardening

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Have you ever sat back and thought about how good gardening is for us in general?

There are obvious benefits to gardening, for example if you grow fruit or vegetables in your garden you have access to fresh fruit and veggies throughout the growing season. The produce your grow is so much fresher than what we can purchase in grocery stores isn’t it? Not to mention that it likely lacks harmful pesticides and other chemicals that could be bad for our health.

Less obvious perhaps are the social, psychological, and physiological benefits of gardening. Maintaining a garden, whether it’s one that produces food for your family, contains a mix of flowering and leafy plants or a mix of both is good exercise, gets us outdoors for some fresh air, and allows us to spend quality time with our family or friends when we are working in the garden, or sitting back and enjoying the view from the patio.

My garden is many things to me. I spend several hours working in the garden from Spring though to Autumn. I know that I get a fair amount of exercise while working in the garden.

When I’m out working in the garden my neighbors often come out to work on their own yards, or simply just to say hello. Therefore I get a chance to get to know my neighbors better and to create a sense of community within my neighborhood.

When I’m not working in the garden, I can often be found either gazing out the window at the lovely flowers, or sitting at my patio table enjoying a drink or pleasant meal with my husband and or friends and relatives.

My garden is also one of the first places that I head after a long night of working as a Nurse in the ER. There is nothing like walking through the garden in the early morning hours to see which new flowers are about to bloom and smelling the heavenly scent of rose perfume wafting through the air. A few minutes in the garden after a long night of taking care of patients and perhaps saving a few lives and I’m almost magically de-stressed. It’s wonderful.

I also take great pride in how my garden looks and I’m very pleased when people stop on the sidewalk as they are walking by our house to look at the flowers in the front yard, or even to stare down our driveway to see the beginning of our backyard paradise. If I happen to be outdoors when my garden catches their eye I usually don’t mind talking to them about the plants I grow, or listening to their compliments.

Why do you garden? What benefits do you derive from gardening?

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