Contrasts

The one constant in the scene next door is the earth mover which has been moving rocks and dirt six days a week for months. In the last couple of weeks it has been redistributing and backfilling the piles of dirt like the one behind it, so we're hoping this means perhaps it is finished. I would say that making a building lot at the top of a rock cliff is definitely a man made work in progress. To be honest, it is beginning to get under my skin a bit. I'm not sure why, but it just seems wrong to rearrange the natural landscape to this degree. 

In contrast are the African Daisies (Osteospermum) which have naturalized all over the slopes of the  swale between our house and the lot next door. That whole little area is suddenly transformed into something green and pretty to look at.

There are no rebuilding plans for that lot, but the bulldozer people are clearly working with the owner since their properties are so close to each other. We have been looking at an orange plastic construction fence around  what was once a redwood septic tank. It burned, leaving a deep hole which required the fence. The bulldozer filled it in in about ten minutes, and the plastic fence is in a pile on the ground. I may have to sneak over there in the dead of night and take it away.

There is now a new digger pushing dirt around beside 'the Bunker' as my friend Ruta named the house that appeared overnight above us. Ironically, it is the same color as the plastic fence. I took a picture of it from the bedroom door.* The house behind it is also new construction and looks like it is almost finished.

Needless to say, surrounded by construction as we are, dusting and sweeping have become very cursory activities, since dust and dirt reappear almost as quickly as I remove them.....

It is still quite cold at night, but the chill gives way to some very warm days. It must have been 75F (24C) today as Spike and I puttered around the garden. A high pressure system seems to be stuck above us keeping the rain away. Definitely a mixed blessing....

*extra