I name houses the way some women name old boyfriends

Hubby and I are celebrating our first year in the new house anniversary this month. Yes, it’s been a year since we moved from Arizona back to Los Angeles. Unlike our desert home, there’s no nature or natural landscape until you get to the beach, so we pass a lot of houses when we walk. Also, unlike our desert home, which was in a new HOA neighborhood and looked like every third house on the street, the homes here are as different and individual as their owners. One of the reasons I’m happy to be back home in SoCal.

I tend to name houses the way some women name old boyfriends. Below are ten of the more outstanding homes in our ‘hood that I’ve named because of their appearances - And yes, they look just like they sound. Even hubby knows which house I’m talking about just by the name I’ve given it. I just love him.

We have:

1. Fire station house
2. Library house
3. I miss Tuscany house
4. I miss England house
5. I miss Japan house
6. Grass is supposed to be green? house
7. Look at those sprinklers go! house
8. All we need is a moat house
9. Agoraphobia house

And one of my favorites

10. Bodies buried in the yard house (This one just might turn up in one of my novels)

Spiders, spiders, everywhere!

Hubby found two brown widow spiders last night, so I decided to go on a spider hunt this morning. Found and killed 6 of the nasty critters hiding under our lawn chairs! I'm sympathetic to living creatures unless they're poisonous. Also killed some of their "land mine" egg sacks on the fence. I then sprayed the house and yard perimeter with poison, which I absolutely hate using but I hate poisonous spiders even more. Now I just need to get some natural stuff for inside the house to keep them out. I've been reading that lemon and peppermint oils work great as a deterrent. 14 years in the desert and never saw one widow. Back home to SoCal coast for 1 year, and wham! Spiders, spiders, everywhere!

Here's one of the nasty critters.