No cheery flower boxes

I've been utterly charmed by the street shots from our UK blippers lately...the damp, cobbled streets, the buildings and bridges that ooze character and history from their aged patina of soot and grime. I must admit that a bit of blip envy has crept in. The oldest building in our city only dates back to 1885, young by European standards.

I wondered about the apartment dwellers in this old building. Is it noisy, being stacked on top of two bars, one featuring live music? Does opening that one window a crack do anything other than pull the noise and exhaust fumes up from the street? Did they simply forget or were they too busy to plant flowers in their flower boxes this year?

A hundred dollar bet says that the answer to question one is yes and the answer to question two is no. Question three I wouldn't wager on. Even though the hodge-podge of colored glass inserts are very decorative, some magenta geraniums and trailing nasturtiums sure would be cheerful.