Urban Camo: Hiding from the Code Cop

Y'all know how I feel about HOAs.  We bought our house here in part because I didn't want to feel the geezer panopticon gaze every time I walked outside lest I choose to leave a child's toy there for more than 10 seconds, which would obviously be completely unacceptable and deserving of a large fine.  But that doesn't mean I live in the Wild West of real estate. My city does have something to say about certain things.  One of those things?  Trash cans.  They cannot be visible from the street. From any angle.  At any time of day except for 12 hours before trash pickup and up to 12 hours afterward.

Recently, Ryan and I cut down a small, misshapen Maple tree and an ugly evergreen bush that just happened to obscure the view of our trashcans.  And while our piece of the city tends toward disheveled, I didn't want to get a warning, let alone a ticket, from the code enforcer.  So I had to get creative.  How could I hide the cans without spending any money?

The fearsome view of the north side walkway.  

While pondering this issue, I noticed that we had a huge pile of evergreen branches from last weekend's cut-down-spectacular, and I had a moment of brilliance.  

We'd use greenery.  Of course, it'll dry up and waste away in the coming weeks, but it'll do for now until I come up with a more permanent solution (also gives me the chance to set aside the cash).  

Zip ties and evergreen branches.  The perfect combination.

Since we already had an ungodly amount of zip ties in the garage, this project could be tackled within seconds of my inspiration.  Thank goodness Ryan had already eaten and was well-beered, so he was a-rarin' to go.

Voila!  No more trash cans.

I think the gate looks pretty darn awesome for such a quick fix, and you can't see the zip ties unless you know they're there.

I do need to come up with a long-term solution, though. Any ideas that are attractive and inexpensive?

An HOA-free zone

You might have noticed we haven't done a lot of posts recently on work done on the house. Well, first of all, we're too broke to do lots of decorative projects (more on what we've really been up to later). And secondly, we've been working on the yard mainly, which isn't that interesting right now.  Weeding doesn't light a fire for most people, although results usually do.

What we have been doing, other than yard work and necessary, yet boring, updates, is getting to know our neighborhood a little.  I love this area of Kansas City. We're on the Kansas side (FYI: Kansas City really is a Missouri city, although there is a KCK, too), nestled in the little town of Roeland Park.  It's very diverse--hell, we have an Hispanic mayor, which says a lot in white-washed Johnson County--and it's close to everything.  Hilariously, the Kansas suburbs of the city are all tiny towns with their own governments, trash removal, town halls, police forces, etc.  Roeland Park has a population of about 5,000, and is surrounded by similar places like Mission, Fairway, and Westwood.

 Much of the architecture is the same, especially in the more modest areas like ours.  Our house is a good example of what you'll see:

Looks smaller than it is because of the extra half story in the back, with a onesie garage tacked on the side.  That could describe 90% of the homes in many Kansas neighborhoods.  Surprisingly, our home, because of its age (built 1940) has more character than those in other parts of KS, and when we're through with it, ours will be a true gem.  For now, our empty yard, waiting on the grass seed to come soon, is kind of embarrassing. At least it's temporary.

We're surrounded by a diverse group of domains.  And today you get to see them. Lucky you.

Cute house down the street. It was for sale for about 6 months. Unfortunately, their asking price was high for how small it was. I have a feeling they bought when prices were higher just a few years ago.

Strange structure that the city has listed as a single family dwelling. Yeah, right.  But there aren't any weirdos living there, so it's okay by me.

Very typical of this area.  This house has had several additions.  Real estate is surprisingly expensive over here, and houses with more than three bedrooms are very rare. So folks just tack on another room or two when they need the space.

Very nice.  (You really should've seen me taking this pictures. I was worried about looking creepy, so I took Drew in the stroller with me and took pictures really fast.)

Yes, They've got the virgin Mary and a deer, guarding the house.

Or should I say, three deer.  And a ladder.

You see, we do not have an HOA keeping neighbors from tacky yard decor.  We are free to put up our pink flamingos.  While some might love their cozy HOA policies to protect property values and exert control over paint colors and the controversial basketball goal, I love that our neighborhood is full of charm, character, and even the odd.  When it comes to most economic policies, I'm full-on tree huggin' regulatin' liberal, but for my neighborhood?  I'm practically an anarchist.  Bring on the yard art.  The wild paint colors.  The permanent yard sale down the street (on a side note, what's with neighborhood yard sales?  If I wanna have a sale tomorrow, I should be able to!  Mrs. Grundy, get over it!).  

A little tacky. A lot wonderful.

A clay-pot knight.  I'm grateful he's keeping watch.

EEEEEEEK!  Laundry hanging in the backyard! And I can see it from the street!  

Love it.

I see weeds!

And a really cute house on the corner.  

I'll leave you with the best house on the block, which is right next door to us.  The white picket fence, well-manicured lawn, matching yippy dog.  And very nice neighbors, too.  We aspire to their greatness.

But I am very tempted to put a mooning garden gnome on our front porch.  Can't be *too* perfect, can we?

A barren backyard

Our yard is rather small, but it's a vast improvement over our 10x10 weed pit at the old house.

Well, this was technically the neighbor's yard, but this is such a great picture.  The day before we moved, the neighbor's dad acquired this "new" truck and pushed it to the backyard. No, it doesn't run.  And Yes, neighbor's mom obviously didn't want the junk in her yard, so it went in neighbor's instead.  The van doesn't run either.  My daily view from the back porch. I smell your envy from here. Just get over it.  

Anyway, we had a similar plot of weeds a few feet over, but without the scrap.

 When we moved in to our new house, we had a nice lot, but the coverage of a rain forest canopy without all the pretty rainbow colored birds.

Too much shade for grass.

Compost pile of unknown age.  I'm a little afraid to touch any of the vines, and Ryan gets horrible poison ivy.  So I'm thinking our next giveaway will be for the chance to help us in the yard.  Nice, huh?

Ancient raised beds.  More vines.

That sad bird feeder.

The elm that is no more. It was gorgeous, but very dead and only required a mere breeze to threaten the power lines.  Since our last storm had wind gusts over 60mph, I'm glad the tree's gone.

Free wood!  We've already had some takers, but we probably still have enough to build some hobbit houses.

This is my view now from my desk since we cut down 7 trees back there.  Plenty of sun, but no grass. Nowhere to relax yet.

That's about to change, though.

Can you guess what it is?

700 pounds of fun.  Courtesy of the grandparents for a large combination birthday/Xmas present, we have a large playset.  Of course, it's currently in the garage.  Awaiting some brawn and patience.  

Ryan cannot wait.