Lost in the Ivy

[steuard]

Our house came with an attractive ivy covered wall in back:

But last fall I discovered that the ivy was doing horrible things to bricks, so we decided it would have to go. (The really bad brick damage was only around the garden plot next to the car in that picture, but we didn't want wait until the same thing happened to the house.)

We wanted to kill the climbing vines before trying to remove them from the wall, so a few weeks ago I went out with shears and severed all their links to the ground. They eventually shriveled up substantially, and last weekend we managed to get the walls all clear (happily without too much damage):

It was a pretty substantial job (we filled up six or seven big yard waste bags with the debris), and we're glad to have it done.

Meanwhile, hidden behind the ivy were several mysterious pipes (not counting the garden spigot that I already knew was there), a long-dead but still-thorny rosebush, a pile of nuts and seeds possibly from a bird feeder, and a small section of chain link fence (maybe they thought it would keep the ivy from reaching the brick... Ha!). Tangled into the vines near the ground was a random collection of curious debris:

Clearly the nearby spigot made this a frequent final home for lots of hose attachments (I'd already found a fancy multi-function sprayer there a few weeks ago, but I threw it out when I found that it barely worked). The sheer number and variety of bouncy balls was a surprise, though (I've found two more since I took this picture, too).

There were also a handful of actual toys. The little metal airplane is kinda cute, the small red frog is pretty random, and... hey, is that Cheetara?

Hmm... doesn't look quite right. Maybe it's just a cheap Cheetara knockoff? Who knows.

Comments

[kirin]

Judging from the belt buckle on the action figure I'd say it's supposed to be from the X-Men... at this distance I'd guess maybe Rogue, though it could be someone more obscure. Those characters go through a lot of redesigns, though.

[chalgaryn.livejournal.com]

Yup, definitely X-Men, now that I actually pause to look at it. Not Rogue though since her hair isn't white in front. Could be a slightly odd looking Jean Grey. I'll have to go look at her more closely before we throw her away.

[chalgaryn.livejournal.com]

Yes, it is Jean Grey. I found a picture of the same action figure in its original packaging.