"Investors" swoop in with cash and lowball bids to senior citizens then slap on some paint and tile and a cheap roof and call it prime real estate. Buyers often have to undo what has been done later. I was lucky, I found this house that had been a rental for years and bought from the original owner; several I looked at already had the investor touch and that was 20 years ago. It's much worse now.

I hadn't thought about those Jim Walters homes in a long time; friends out in West Texas were considering having them build a prefab house on their lot because they couldn't find a regular contractor to do the job for them. Years ago now Mudcatter maeve had a house fire and replaced it with a prefab yurt (with modern building materials, not tanned hides.) The photos I saw of those houses were lovely; perhaps she'll drop in and report how that has worked out.

Trimming around the front yard was done with the gas trimmer; it's more powerful than the electric one, and alas, killed a rough earth snake that was under some grass I was scraping off of the driveway pavement. A second snake got a glancing blow but will be fine. Tomorrow I'll mow, possibly both front and back, a really good workout.