Dumb Design

chcr said:
I got in hot water with the homeowners association at the first house I ever owned for working on race bikes in my garage.
Click to expand...

See- you OWNED it, dammit! To hell with any busybodies telling you what to work on in your own garage! "What's he building in there?"- (Tom Waits song)
-Nobody's business!
 
tonksy said:
I'm waiting to hear it about the birdhouses on my wrought iron fence.
Click to expand...

Good for you! And good for the birds!
Me and all my neighbors have hollow gourds out there for the purple martens, and wooden houses atop fence posts for the bluebirds, etc.
Homeowner's associations: kiss our red, white & blue asses!
:jester:
 
tonksy said:
Do you make the gourd houses yourself?
I want a marten house!
Click to expand...
I can get you all the marten gourds you want, mah fren. People round here grow gourds out of habit, and the seeds get loose, so they're also growing wild in the gullies and ravines.
All it takes is a power drill with a 1 & 1/2 " doorknob-cutter attachment. That makes the right size "door" for the bird. Then you let it dry and shake the seeds and pulp out- similar to pumpkin- and you've got a birdhouse. My colony of purple martens are my gardens best friends.
 
Homeowner's Associations...an excuse to have to stay in the house & not do anything outdoors.
 
JTP said:
I can get you all the marten gourds you want, mah fren. People round here grow gourds out of habit, and the seeds get loose, so they're also growing wild in the gullies and ravines.
All it takes is a power drill with a 1 & 1/2 " doorknob-cutter attachment. That makes the right size "door" for the bird. Then you let it dry and shake the seeds and pulp out- similar to pumpkin- and you've got a birdhouse. My colony of purple martens are my gardens best friends.
Click to expand...

SWEET! How do you hang it? I'm especially liking the houses that have the hanging attachment running parallel across the top so they slip on my fence post easily. When do you paint it? I imagine you paint it once it's thoroughly dry.
 
JTP said:
See- you OWNED it, dammit! To hell with any busybodies telling you what to work on in your own garage! "What's he building in there?"- (Tom Waits song)
-Nobody's business!
Click to expand...

Oh noes, not another Tom Waits fan. Step Right Up. ;)
 
tonksy said:
SWEET! How do you hang it? I'm especially liking the houses that have the hanging attachment running parallel across the top so they slip on my fence post easily. When do you paint it? I imagine you paint it once it's thoroughly dry.
Click to expand...

Yes and they hold up to the weather better if you paint 'em or shellac 'em. A set of small drilled holes up near the stem with strong wire run through, then you can hang them on whatever-have to get a photo of one- somebody around here recycled an old satellite dish- now it's hanging convex side-down with marten gourds all suspended from it. I'll send pix next time I'm over that way.
 
JTP said:
Yes and they hold up to the weather better if you paint 'em or shellac 'em. A set of small drilled holes up near the stem with strong wire run through, then you can hang them on whatever-have to get a photo of one- somebody around here recycled an old satellite dish- now it's hanging convex side-down with marten gourds all suspended from it. I'll send pix next time I'm over that way.
Click to expand...

Or concave side-down. Just woke up so gimme some slack.
 
Late to the party....but I'll chime in on everything. :D

The Saturn has amber DRL, but they only come on when the car is in drive. On the other hand, the Explorer has the auto-lights thing but I tend to manually override them when its raining because its not dark enough for them to turn on (law around here, and common sense).

As for HOAs, none in my area. My friend can't have garbage cans visible and garage doors down, but there's no enforcement. My parents had to brick their chimney (though its visible only from the back of the house) from ground-up when building their house in a HOA area.

We have a martin house that came with the house when we bough it, but I've never opened it up. Aren't you supposed to open/close it certain times of the year?
 
Mirlyn said:
Late to the party....but I'll chime in on the lights. :D

The Saturn has amber DRL, but they only come on when the car is in drive. On the other hand, the Explorer has the auto-lights thing but I tend to manually override them when its raining because its not dark enough for them to turn on (law around here, and common sense).

We have a martin house that came with the house when we bough it, but I've never opened it up. Aren't you supposed to open/close it certain times of the year?
Click to expand...

Never heard of closing them off. Some people clean the nesting out after the birds migrate away, some don't. I just put 'em up and let the martens take care o' the rest. Even unpainted, a gourd will stand up to several years of usage.
 
"As for HOAs, none in my area. My friend can't have garbage cans visible and garage doors down, but there's no enforcement. My parents had to brick their chimney (though its visible only from the back of the house) from ground-up when building their house in a HOA area".- MIRLYN

Now isn't that ridiculous? Bet it was expensive. Those HOA busybodies are on a power trip. Tell 'em "KMA".
 
Actually, the sole purpose of a HOA is to insure the real estate value of the neighborhood. Mirlyn's folks chimney is a prime example. I can understand the reasoning but I feel they get a little out of hand at times.
 
tonksy said:
Actually, the sole purpose of a HOA is to insure the real estate value of the neighborhood. Mirlyn's folks chimney is a prime example. I can understand the reasoning but I feel they get a little out of hand at times.
Click to expand...


TRY to insure the real estate value of a neighborhood. So many variables are beyond their control, they go all Nazi on the few things they can get away with enforcing. Which drives potential home-buyers who value their freedom away.
 
True. Although in my case, the majority of my neighbors are more concerned with their property value than their freedom. We simply find ways around the rules. except for the goat thing, haven't figured out how to get around that.
 
tonksy said:
True. Although in my case, the majority of my neighbors are more concerned with their property value than their freedom. We simply find ways around the rules. except for the goat thing, haven't figured out how to get around that.
Click to expand...

Hate to say it out loud, but property values are going in one direction and the cost of everything else is going in the other. Wish it wasn't so, but we have got to deal with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top