An Ordinary Day In Paradise

Some years ago Cape Coral and surrounding area was called Paradise because of its tropical climate, fine beaches and palm trees everywhere. For the last number of years Theresa and I have been enjoying our time here.

There is another side of life here and it is the maintenance of your property. You get excited about all the beautiful trees and flowers so you plant, plant and plant some more. You are amazed at the speed that everything grows and when you go home for six months you never know what to expect when you return.

The last two days were maintenance days. Mowing the lawn on a ride on mower takes one and a half hours. Trimming and cutting those areas where the big mower will not do is another hour. Pruning the bananas and white bird of paradise takes some time and the leaves have to be placed by the road for pickup. Weeding the garden is a on going chore as the weeds can quickly get out of hand. I prefer no weeds at all and try to keep it that way.

The pool required the weekly cleanup and this time there was a major vacuum job as we had a green one day problem. This required testing and a visit to the pool store for chlorine, salt and acid. Besides costing a lot you have to make sure everything is done properly. Watering the lawn and garden is easy as we have a sprinkler system but everything takes time.

Sounds like a pile of work but it must be done in a timely manner so your place presents the proper curb side picture. I am fortunate as I have a willing partner which makes the work feel like fun.Theresa often jokes about out dates looking after our home in Paradise.

We never work more than a few hours so the rest of time is sheer pleasure. We love our time here but miss our friends and family.