A handful of photos at the end of the afternoon.

For those of you who enjoy using the computer, I have something useful you may like–accounting software. If you have ever used Quicken, you know what I am talking about. The program is called GnuCash and it is a commercial grade, double entry accounting software used by thousands of small businesses and accounting services. Though not as pretty, it is a feature-rich equivalent of the software used by our accounting service, Miller and Rose.
Don’t be scared by the above description; it is easy to learn as a personal finance manager. If you just want to track a checking account or two and a savings account, I can teach you all you need to know in 20 minutes. It can do so much more, however, if you need it to. It can track checking and savings accounts, investment accounts, liabilities, fixed assets, taxes, calculate your net worth and so much more.
If you have ever used a checkbook software before, the screenshot below will look familiar; it shows what the ledger page looks like. What you may not be familiar with is the column named “Transfer”. This is the beauty of the double entry system and allows you to track anything and everything to do with your finances. You can account down to the change in your pocket, if you desire to do so.

Let me know if you are interested and I will help you get started. The drawback is that it works only on Windows (PC’s) and Linux computers. If you want to go it alone just navigate to

www.gnucash.org

There are plenty of tutorials and documentation to teach you how to use it.
By the way, it is free.

mmarsha@fastmail.net::M Marshall

Let me draw your attention to a problem that has existed for years–the Russian olive hedgerow on the south side of #9. For many years this hedgerow was allowed to grow unchecked, to the point that it produced a huge erosion problem along the south side of the driveway to #9. It so invaded the driveway that the owner could only use half the width of the driveway; and, when the owner backed out of the garage, he would have to drive into the hedge.

A couple of years ago we trimmed back the overgrowth that obstructed the driveway; and, since then we have done some maintenance trimming of this Russian olive hedgerow. It still, however, remains a problem. We were able to arrest some of the erosion problem with a bed of weed mat and large gravel. Since the hedge is so large, erosion is still a threat as it prevents the growth of turf grass that would hold the soil in place.

The most glaring problem with this hedgerow is the need for occasional maintenance by professionals, which translates to expense for the Association. Each time it needs trimmed requires many hundreds of dollars (about a $1,000 per trim). This is an expenditure we do not need and can easily avoid. We can eliminate this expense in two ways–have these shrubs cut back to a size that can be maintained by resources in the community (volunteers); or, cut them down completely and replant with the goal of maintaining them in-house.
The most practical and sustainable choice is to cut them down and replant. Although Russian olive are a durable and hardy hedge, they are also very difficult to maintain, requiring frequent pruning to control. If you look at the success of the rehabilitation of the landscape at #36, it is easy to see that such a drastic measure is easy to endure and produces beautiful results. A similar condition of overgrowth and erosion existed at #36 until its hedgerow was taken down and replaced with sod. I think all agree that the transformation was well worth it. A similar prescription is appropriate at #9.

A caution I would like to add here is that we should not replant with more Russian olive, but make a better choice for the future. I suggest that we replant with Pampas Grass. Thanks to Phillip Cypert for introducing us to this beautiful and very useful plant. He enjoyed it when he lived in Florida for many years. It is used there extensively to lay out property borders the way we use woody shrubs (Russian olive) to lay out borders here. If you would like to see examples of Pampas Grass, just look at the end of the street in front of Phillip’s house at #52. Do not be deceived by its looks; it is a formidable guardian. Not only does it grow more and more dense, but its long, slender leaves carry a treacherous hazard. The blades have sharp teeth which can cut exposed skin like a razor and cause irritation.
The most attractive benefit of using Pampas Grass is that it is low maintenance–it only needs pruning once per year and this can be done by local volunteers. Although it is considered as an invasive plant, this can be checked at the time it is pruned. It also does not promote erosion as Russian olive does. It is certainly more pleasing to look at and will not cost us hundreds of dollars (thousands over time) to control.
The Board has hinted that we may need to increase condo fees; we absolutely do not need to discuss increasing condo fees without first talking about eliminating unnecessary financial burdens–like trimming shrubs that we don’t even need.
M Marshall::mmarsha@fastmail.net

I have not had much opportunity to do any photography the past few months. I did get out today and snapped a few of a fading season.

M Marshall::mmarsha@fastmail.net

After a good deal of shopping around, I have found an affordable host for this blog site. My previous sites were built on low-cost, first-time offers for the first one year period. When the first year expired, the cost would go up dramatically. The host for this site has very reasonable costs which I hope will let me continue it for a long time.

The purpose of this site is to serve the members of River Oaks Trace Property Owners Association by providing entertainment and information relevant to life in the Trace. It is constructed very much like previous sites. Our governing documents are provided for your reference along with the minutes of Board meetings. Our financial reports are also available here, though they require a password to access them. All of our documents are open to the public; but, our financial records should be a little more secure as they can be misused.

If you desire to see our financial reports, please call Mike Marshall at 501-230-3652 and he will give you a one-use password to open them. When you close the financial reports file, you will need a new password to access them again.

I will not be publishing the Bulletin for a while, but instead will use this blog to share information and present ideas. Maintaining this site offers a richer experience as it gives the opportunity to share photos, video, and provide feedback convenience for you, the reader. Our beautiful community can be showcased here in a way that the Bulletin cannot match.

I will post as often as possible, so come back once in a while. I will try to post at least weekly, but more often if possible. Thanks for your attention.

M Marshall::mmarsha@fastmail.net