On the header above is the Japanese Garden in Düsseldorf, just a few meters from here. I just came back from doing MY garden … which does not look exactly like that … sadly. I mean I really enjoy a pretty garden, especially Baroque gardens and Japanese gardens which are quite common here in my area. Having to do my own patch of land is a major pain in the ass.
The thing is: for everything you have to pay a price. The price we have to pay for linving in a famous recreational area with a lake, a river, forests, medieval castle ruins, and winding roads perfect for driving your open top spyder … let’s say, the price is quite high. Our property is stapled onto a slope of 15-20% just across the lake on the opposite side of Villa Hügel, the famous palace-like mansion of Alfred Krupp later Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach (jup, the ones from ThyssenKrupp AG … famous for “hard as Krupp steel”) That means lawnmowing is a constant fight against the slope and you feel like Sisyphus rolling his damn stone up the mountain, and even with a motorized lawnmower it is nearly impossible. I even have to wear old golf shoes because without spikes I would slide down the lawn.
The saddest part of the story is that I don’t even see my own garden when I sit on the terrace because it is somewhere 15 meters further below. And the view on Villa Krupp is blocked by the trees on my own property. Hmpf!
That would all be fun and games, but today my garden had its greatest day. I was attacked by our resident pair of ravens, the green woodpecker shouted “f-you” at me and flew away, a swarm of insects nearly ate me alive and I almost accidentally killed our danger-noodle (snake) that lives under our terrace.
