Ahh...summer...and finally the garden is finished.
I planted the last of the helleborous and fountain grasses yesterday and sat back to enjoy the fruits of our labours.
The only thing standing in the way of pure satisfaction and a sense of real house pride is our neighbours.
Or more specifically the disaster on the property beside us.
Let me start by saying that they are a nice couple who moved in a year ago.
They got married, had a baby and bought their first house all within the year.
The house was in pretty bad shape when they moved in and have been "fixing" it up ever since.
I totally understand as we have also been doing the same thing for the past few years.
But the difference is that we try to be really conscientious when we are working on projects around the house.
Namely we clean up between the houses and keep things tidy.
Not only because we are neat freaks and it's the main access to our back yard, but also because it is called common courtesy.
We have spent a lot of time, energy and money trying to make things look nice around here and quite frankly all the garbage and crap between the house is starting to drive me a bit insane.
Plus lulu has tripped over all the pieces of wood and nails and it's actually starting to become in my opinion - dangerous.
We have really been trying to cut them some slack, seeing as it's been a pretty busy year for them- but enough is enough.
We also share the spot between the houses with them for parking, which technically we don't legally have to do, but we felt bad for them as they don't have legal parking on their property and we do.
But they never leave enough room for the stroller/wagon etc. to get through and it's really becoming super annoying.
I mean we don't even have to let them park there in the first place.
Did I mention that we replaced and paid for all the new fencing?
which we didn't even ask them to contribute to because we felt bad that they just got married, had a newborn and bought their first house, so we just did it ourselves.
but that didn't prevent them from making us move the existing fence posts that had been there for over 20 years 5 cm more to our property line as they had a survey done.
which meant that we lost some really beautiful, mature scrubs and the most beautiful dogwood...all for 5 cm.
Oh and since I'm on a rant, they have the loudest air conditioner ever.
It actually wakes up lulu when it comes on and off.
They never open the windows even on the most beautifully breezy days and keep all the blinds closed, and lights on.
what's up with that?
we have an air conditioner too, but it's elevated as to not impede the space between the houses and also so that it is quiet and efficient.
I'm so annoyed.
Anyhow, maybe I'm over reacting.
It could be worse they could be a-holes or total freaks.
which they are not.
Like I said, they are really quite nice.
They also have a 1 year old daughter who will eventually want to play with lulu as they get older.
It's just that they are so clueless.
I'm sure the best thing is to just talk to them about these "concerns", but for some reason when it comes to neighbours, I never want to rock the boat.
I become such a wimp and get so nervous bringing anything up that could potentially make things awkward or uncomfortable.
Big daddy is equally annoyed and is planning on talking to them.
Well that and he has taken upon himself to cleaning up their mess a bunch of times already.
rant rant rant...
Anyone else have issues with their neighbours?
How does the old saying go?
good fences make good neighbours..
even if we were the ones who paid for it.
oh and speaking of annoying...how disappointing was that finale to the Sopranos last night?
talk about not cleaning up after themselves.
could the writers not have come up with anything better than that?
All I can say to that one is...stugots.
6 comments:
I have a great neighbour. She is 82 years old and has a beautiful garden which my deck overlooks. When I first moved in (I'm a single woman) she asked if I wanted her newspaper when she was finished with it. I said sure, because I hate paying for a daily paper since I don't have time to read it...Anyway, she started leaving treats for my dog with the paper. Now my dog loves to get the newspaper! She occasionally leaves treats for me in the paper...like yesterday, she left me a piece of blueberry pie. Which would have been great, if the crow hadn't gotten to it before me! I have blueberry stains all over my beautiful deck. Ugh! My neighbour felt awful, but she really means well...
J
I think if you bring the mess up in terms of being a danger to Lulu it will be easier to broach the subject.
We're lucky to have fabulous neighbours on either side, but there are crazies across the street. I watch the cops bring them out of the house at gunpoint last week!
I am totally annoyed with my neighbors as well. I'm so tired of their cat pooping in my mulch. And taunting my dog through window. And sitting on my car. In my garage. But they are so nice... how on Earth would I even begin to bring up the subject? Ug.
You're not over reacting. Some people are just annoying and totally oblivious. It will seriuosly take a very similar situation happening to them for them to get it.
oh good neighbours! we had lovely ones on each side. then last summer one elderly set moved away. the were very apologetic when they told us they had sold to the highest bidder - should have known bad things were to come. they sold to a couple of guys who own a number of properties, who then tore up the original features of the house to but in (ack!) vinyl windows, large colonial light fixtures etc. so so sad. and then they ran out of money and it has sat empty for a yr. i have reported them to mosquito abatement (they have a pool they haven't maintained) and to building and safety. drastic i know - but we seemed to get nowhere in just talking to them. i am sure you will have better luck - it may just be off their radar right now. but it sounds like all the work you are doing should inspire! xo
We have great neighbours on one side and neighbours we never see on the others. So good I suppose on both ends.
And yes the Sopranos ending sucked big time, I was soooooooo disappointed. I mean sure I could use my imagination but it would've been nice to see a good ending!
Our worst neighbours are a few doors down. They are horrible to each other and are raising a little hooligan. It's not his fault that much, but that kid makes me nervous, quite frankly.
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