It's Friday again, and we're stopping, taking stock of things and celebrating the small, things that you don't think merit an entire bottle of Champagne... Until you get started thinking.
So, today.
I'm looking out the window and seeing that my next door neighbor mowed her lawn. That is a good thing. She does it regularly, right down the rather steep hill to my lawn. What's worth celebrating about this?
Well... Dare I confess it to the world this Friday morning? The fact that she was mowing down the side of the hill is a triumph worth celebrating. I think it was celebrated with some champagne, now that I remember it.
Neighbors: mine are nice, most of them. In this case, however, the neighbors there got it into their heads that the side of the hill to their house was ours. I guess they did not read the specs of the property. With that supposition, they did a number of things.1. They talked 'at' me about how the large oak just up the hill from the hill needed some work.
2. When a windstorm blew branches of the oak down, their landscapers piled the branches on my fence and broke it.
3. They stopped mowing the hill and let it get terrifically weedy.
All of this was without directly saying to me that the hill and tree and whatever else were on my property. It was, in fact, a textbook illustration of passive aggression.
I mulled over the best way to approach things. I don't like conflict. Smiles make me happy. ...and then a survey team appeared on the property. And they politely asked me if I minded if they went on my property. I did not.
And now that hillside has been mowed. It took a lot of effort on a hot day, t'other day.
They still haven't come to me to say who owns that tree that is right-smack-over-the-property-line-by-a-good-twenty-feet.
I'll mow my lawn tonight when I bring home my new mower, another thing to celebrate.
...and if they actually ask me, I'll suggest we chip in together to get the tree dealt with.
OH! - and I'll be reading everyone else's posts, too. Thank you, VikLit!
We're lucky to have considerate neighbors...this time. I heard of many horror stories over the years dealing with bad ones. My daughter has a new home and, the people next door party at least 3 times a week and come home in the wee hours of the morning screaming, shouting, and revving their motorcycles!
ReplyDeleteYikes! I'm so blessed with my neighbors across the street and to the other side! I am not being facetious, but writing a horror story featuring your daughter's neighbors might be cathartic. I do hope she is doing better.
DeleteYep, neighbors can make or break a happy home! And if you are on the association board (as I have been for the last 10 years), it gets even more "interesting." I, too, dislike confrontations. But I do write a good letter!
ReplyDeleteJust enjoy the smell of freshly-moved grass tonight - as well as the champagne.
I would imagine you COULD write a good letter, Inge! And do it with elegance and style! (And I would not wish to 'tangle' with one on the Association board!)
DeleteThis is precisely why my mother-in-law refuses to move into a neighborhood where each homeowner is responsible for his/her own landscaping. You get into crazy wars! Plus, you can take care of your lawn but you can't control what others do. I think we're gradually going to communities with HOAs where everyone pays a monthly fee for this stuff...but you do give up a large amount of freedom (not to mention $$$) for this privilege.
ReplyDeleteYour mother has the right of it (as far as convenience goes). If I ever am recognized as the long-lost Queen of the Sapphire Isles (or some other such title) I shall ordain that all harried mothers, daughters, workers, students and Just Plain Tired folk will be given landscaping service by order of the Crown. ...though I admit it's lovely to look at the flowers you chose yourself and planted yourself as they bloom.
DeleteThanks for 'stopping by'!
Ugh, that would definitely be a difficult situation to deal with, so I'm glad it's (hopefully) all worked out!
ReplyDeleteThey'll be nicer once I mow my side of the lawn. And who knows? I might just pitch in and help them mow the hill... Hm... Must think!
DeleteOh, the joys of living with neighbors! This brought back some memories from my childhood . . . a certain two feet of yard mowed aggressively by neighbors when we kept telling them that it was our property, and that really mowing it that short would just make it die during the summer. Eventually, surveyors were involved, and the golf course type of lawn mowing stopped. It was hard on friendships but somehow we all made it through it.
ReplyDelete...and now you laugh at it! At least the surveyor proved your point! And the friendship survived, which is the best
DeleteThanks so much for being anew co-host, Diane! And congrats on the end of the lawn war! I;m afraid that at the moment my husband and I are the bad neighbors as we're smack dab in the middle of digging a french drain in our yard which looks terrible. While it's all on our property we're paranoid the neighbors are all hating us for making the general neighborhood look worse and diminishing the value of their well-manicured lawns. Sigh. Neighbors- not the best or owning a house!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, happy Friday and thanks again for co-hosting!
This has been such a delicious and enjoyable blog hop, I was happy to step into the fun. It's a pleasure and a privilege.
DeleteBeing proven in the "right" without having to deal with any nasty confrontations is definitely worth celebrating.
ReplyDeleteHappy weekend!
Oh don't you just love passive aggressiveness? Ugh. Have fun with your new mower and yay to you for being a co-host! Enjoy your weekend. :)
ReplyDeletePassive aggressive people are such a pain in the behind. Congrats on having it dealt with.
ReplyDeleteGood neighbors are hard to find! I hope your neighbors can learn to be more direct with you...in a nice way of course. Happy Friday!
ReplyDelete~Katie
We need a new lawn mower. Ours just broke down this week.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it annoying that such a small thing can be blown up out of proportion? Who needs passive aggressive weirdness? I wouldn't think a property line could be so ambiguous, especially with the magically appearing survey team right there. Did they not mark it with something so the neighbors know the tree is THEIRS? Well, at least the mowing is a step in the right direction. ;)
ReplyDeleteHi Diana .. always difficult - but you seem to have accomplished much, and are achieving and getting the in-between area sorted out - oak trees are wonderful but are so big ... and they have a wealth (world) of wildlife amongst their branches - they support many .. good luck, hope the scent of that fresh cut lawn is wonderful .. thankfully I love it ... and champagne too! Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteNasty neighbors are a challenge. Good work on sorting that out, even if the tree is still an issue for future discussion.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a step in the right direction. Hope you get the tree sorted too. :-)
ReplyDeleteneighbors can be a task in itself! keep your head up! newest follower and so glad to have found your blog!
ReplyDelete