Oh, the blessing and curse of walking my dogs. But what would I know about my new neighborhood besides the quickest route to the grocery store if it wasn't for my morning and evening walks. I find myself constantly staking out different routes and looking for a bit of relaxation, exercise and the unexpected. The neighborhood is full of houses, yards, and gardens of all kinds with, I'm guessing, a third or quarter of the neighborhood being of the Asian persuasion, representing the topiary and bonsai. There are tons of DIY gardeners; there are full-on mini farms around some corners and the occasional hermit house — even cracky-looking houses. (There is even a house around the corner that looks like a crab shack or lobster boat. I kid you not, I've got to get a picture of that one....) It's not the suburbs, and it ain't the city living I'm used to. There's no rhyme or reason to these pictures except that this is a blog, dammit, and this shit is just supposed to roll out and roll on...Thistle.

Mini Thistle. I had no idea this existed.Composite pic. I love this place, there is a mini shrine you can kind of see around the corner and the mailbox just sits on the rock there.

Topiary madness, smooth as eggs. (Sorry, its just my phone camera.)

A little of that '60s Americana feel here. Big spaces. More topiary.