Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Lo and Behold

Mr. Cactus went out to get the paper this morning while I was making breakfast.
"There is a picture of our house on the front page of the newspaper this morning!" he exclaimed.

Lo and Behold there it was. Our house right on the front page of the St. George Spectrum.
Shouldn't someone have asked our permission first? Agreed we are a small town, with a small newspaper, but it was still a bit of a shock.
A landscaping measure has been proposed by the city council, and I guess the newspaper's photographer felt our home fit the bill.
St. George wants to require 30% of all new front yards to include landscaping features that encourage the "use of native plants and other low-water plants" that promote water conservation.

Our backyard backs up to 62,000 acres of the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.
We used a lot of xeriscape landscaping because of the desert location.

We have a lot of cacti and desert plants that Mr. Cactus covered in Christmas lights for the holiday season.

If the law passes, each new yard will be required to have at least one tree. Do you think our Beaked Yucca will count?

We brought in a lot of big red rocks to blend in with the reserve behind our backyard.
In fact, this made me think of a funny story as we were putting in our yard.
I was not home the day they brought a big crane in to lift the large rocks around our backyard. Our pool had been dug and lined with gunite, but the plaster had not been applied yet.
Mr Cactus called me on my cell phone.
"Honey, I have good news and bad news." he said.

"The good news is the slide works."
"The bad news is the biggest rock we paid a lot of money for is now two smaller rocks."
The guys operating the crane had accidentally dropped a very large rock on the hillside, where it promptly began rolling down the slide, landed in the bottom of the pool, and broke in two.
More good news: the pool was fine.

12 comments:

Natishia Curry said...

well its good that the news in the paper was good for you. I love your pool, very cool. My back is very different, I have 2 natural ponds and wooded behind them. I wish I could swim in our ponds.

Mel said...

Funny pool story!

YES, I would think that would be invasive to have your home on the front page without prior knowledge or permission!!

Ahh small towns!

Material Mary said...

Shocking. But the landscape you have in your area fits the bill especially where water is scarce. Great job.
Mary

Quilts and Cats said...

Wow, I can't believe they did that without even asking. I hope you call them and at least find out why they felt it was okay to put private property on the front page without permission. Let us know if you do! But, your home is beautiful and your landscaping is great.

Unknown said...

Your property is gorgeous! I just love the desert homes. The landscaping is gorgeous too. Love the story of the rock and the slide!

Anonymous said...

how fun, i would love my picture on the front page of a news paper

Julie S said...

Oh my Nedra. What a story! Merry Christmas to you.

Jane's Fabrics and Quilts said...

I have loved seeing pictures of your home, I think it is wonderful. Now it is an example to others, although I agree they should have asked!!

Amy Dayton said...

That is so cool- you are famous! Crazy that you paid big $$ for boulders when they are scattered all over the place on the mountain- maybe the tortoises would miss them.

Dawn said...

I recognize that house!! They should have asked first...that wasn't very nice! I still can't believe the rock slid down the slide! Have a great week.

Nanette Merrill said...

Your yard is beautiful summer, winter, fall and spring.

Former News Photographer said...

The house, if on a public street, can be photographed and used in a news setting without the permission of the owner as there's no "reasonable expectation of privacy" for a home set, again, on a public street.

(Just Google "reasonable expectation of privacy" and you'll learn more about photographer's rights. Toss the word "photography" in there for good measure, too.)

Can they shoot into the windows? No, because there there's a reasonable expectation of privacy behind closed doors. But the front of a home which is accessible and viewable to any and all?

Calm down, people. :)