Property Values Are Hot, Hot, Hot

Here’s an update from the Barnstable County Register of Deeds:
For May 2004, the average sale price of property in Mashpee was $378,800, not taking account of sales over $1,000,000.
That’s a 28 PERCENT increase in individual property sales value from May 2003.
By comparison, for Barnstable County as a whole, the average sale price for properties under $1,000,000 was $367,247, an increase of 14.2% from this time last year.

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Gardener’s Diary

The pansies that have been in the back porch planters since Easter weekend are doing so well that I may need to thin them out, so I dragged out the last, unused flower box and may be filling it tomorrow. Probably means another trip to the nursery, what a hardship!
Peter’s ailing holly tree appears to be responding to many inches of rain and last week’s heavy feeding of Hollytone. Hope reigns eternal.
The Fairy Rose, considered by serious horticulturalists to be an invasive species, is loaded with buds. Yesterday, I cut back a dozen or so errant, heavy branches that had no flowers.

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Chrysler Town & Country

Remind me to tell you how much I love the ads for this automobile.
The elegant little musical background transports me every time I hear it to a place where Montauk daisies grow and canapes are served at sunset soirees.
You are welcome to come to the soirees, just bring your urbane wit and a good stock of entertaining stories.
It’s a good thing I don’t have money, otherwise I’d be an even more unbearable, rhapsodic snob.

eHarmony

I’ve hesitated – for years – to get involved with online dating services, but a couple of months ago, decided to join eHarmony, maybe because they were running one of their regular “specials”. Also, a friend recently made a spectacular match through another online service, so I decided to give it a try.

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Unconscious Mutterings

From Luna Niña:

  1. Lover :: when you’re near me
  2. Ridiculous:: excuse (as in “the dog ate my homework” versus “excused from jury duty”)
  3. Oscar:: Peterson
  4. Tennis:: Elbow
  5. Account Balance:: zero
  6. Hickey:: James (oh, sorry, was thinking of the poet James Dickey)
  7. License:: to kill
  8. Breathmints:: Certs (branding, branding, my gosh)
  9. TexMex:: chile
  10. Stepmother:: wicked

With Friends Like These…

Who needs the Merry Maids?
With a guest coming for part of the Memorial Day weekend, I was trying to figure how to fit a normal two days of cleaning and errands into about 6 hours this past Saturday.
Luckily, I have friends who were happy to help out, one of whom volunteered to vacuum while her 4-almost-5 year old helped me scrub counter tops with “sugar stuff” (Ajax). The other mowed my lawn, a task I normally enjoy but just didn’t have time to manage before my guest’s arrival.
Then, while I was doing the second transfer station run of the day with Peter, they set up a charming Hamptons/Newport-style bistro arrangement on my porch.
Meanwhile, my washing machine decided to blow a gear or something in its overworked motor, so last evening, the second friend let me do laundry while I grilled some chicken on her barbecue.
So, today, I have a clean house, clean clothes and memories of a most pleasant visit with my out of town “gentleman friend”, a person of immense charm who entertains as well as enlightens with his well-honed and wide-ranging conversational skills. A Cape Cod postcard weekend altogether, with perfect weather and reasonable traffic to boot.
How’d I ever get so lucky?!