There was a Question

There was a question in the Comments of the previous post. 

If you live in a townhouse, how come the HOA doesn't mow? Here that's one of the benefits.

We don't live in that kind of situation. We live in a townhouse, but it is not a condo with any sort of overall governance. All properties are separate, and we, essentially, have nothing to do with one another. New subdivisions have sprung up locally, and as far as I know, all of them are like our, older type of situation.

In any case, this ↑ is what our common easement behind our backyards looks like. It exists to give every owner access from the back of the lot. It looks rough because it is largely unused.  The lots are on the left; the fence on the right separates our properties from town land, mainly the road, on the other side.

In the 19 years that we've lived here, it has  been up to me to clear the way. Owners are, theoretically, responsible for the section behind their fence, but most do not bother. In fact, I am not sure that most understand that this is their obligation. The neighbour to our north, which is where I am standing to snap this photo doesn't even have a gate at the back because they have side access. They let bushes grow behind their property, so that I couldn't get by to mow, so I asked JJ and his dad to come over and clear them with their electric saw, and the result is the piles of brush that you see here and there down the path. They will been gathered and taken to the waste yard in due course.

Before the boys cleared the way

 I have recently whipper-snipped the easement because the grass had grown too high for the mower and also because it might have been difficult to push the mower past the piles of brush. It has been my job for the past 19 years to clear the way. I have been able to stretch the lawnmower cord from our yard to tend most of the path that you see in the photo. I was able to do 3.5 properties. The last 0.5 at the far end is now tended to by the newer owner, thank goodness. I say 0.5 because I never could extend the cord past their gate to do their full property.

Someone wondered the market value of modest properties like ours. I searched real estate online and was stunned to see the price of equivalent houses. I have no idea how younger families can afford to purchase any sort of home, never mind those larger detached homes.

There are perhaps eight newer subdivisions since we moved here, and the preponderance of homes seem to be townhouses like ours. When we moved here in '05, our street contained the majority of townhouses in the whole town, but they have proliferated since then.

We moved from Southwestern Ontario here to Eastern Ontario back in '05. Our townie here cost about 50% more than our previous house which was larger and sat on a larger lot. As pricey as it was then, its market value has appreciated almost 2.5 fold. It's crazy.

Although it was a very expensive move to a higher cost area, it was worth it be be close to Shauna and the grandkids. 

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Yesterday, we watched the men's tennis finals at Wimbledon. My goodness, I think that Mr Alcaraz may be the most talented and exciting  player that I have seen in the 50 years that I have been following the sport. I've seen them from Connors, Borg and McEnroe all the way through to the incredible trio of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic, but I don't think I've seen any player make so many shots that, metaphorically, lift me from my seat. Sue and I often look at each other in amazement during his matches.

Alcaraz is a Spaniard. Yesterday, Spain also won the European tournament over England, so I think it is fair to say that Spain had a good day. I don't usually follow soccer, but I did watch much of that game. Due to my ancestry, I was cheering for England, but Spain was pretty dominant.

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It is now 6:30 in the morning. I forced myself to stay in bed until past 5 even though I was awake. I keep hoping that I will get back to sleep. Occasionally, it happens.

This morning, Danica will come over for Sue to Dutch-braid her hair. Sue has often done a French braid for the girl but has taught herself the new braid just to please her grandkid. She watches YT videos and teaches herself. In fact, she took a photo of her practise attempt on wool. So, although I am ready to post at 6:30, I'll wait for m'lady to arise, so that I can get the photo.

I may not see Danica, for I have grocery shopping to do, for the pantry is looking a little bleak.

And . . . here's the photo: one of Sue's composites. Maybe I will post at some later time how it goes with Danica and her actual hair.