Please Do Not Pick The Flowers!

I’ve lived in the same 2-family townhouse for almost 5 years now. When I first moved in, there was a young family next door. They were friendly and aside from the occasional spousal spats, I had no problems with them. Too bad they couldn’t pay the rent - oops. Then came the gay guys… Yes, homosexuals. Their sexuality didn’t bother me. However, twice when I arrived home I found that they were in the process of using MY garden hose and MY water. They conveniently waited until I left and then helped themselves without even asking me! Another time I came home to find they had built a flower garden with my landscaping bricks. Did they ask? Noooo. So I left a note on their door one morning before I left for work, praising them for a what a nice job they did and a check for $45 would cover the cost of the bricks. Imagine my surprise when I went home at lunch and all the bricks were put back where I had stacked them. LOL On the day they moved out, I was at work. I arrived home to find my windchimes taken off the hook and thrown in front of my screen door. Is that their way of having the last word?

So what’s all this have to do with picking flowers? Before the same gay neighbors had left, they planted a rose bush in our shared yard. Also in the yard, there is a lilac bush and a peony bush. In the spring, I cut a few flowers off each – No, I’m not a hacker… leaving a bush looking like a swarm of locusts attacked it. My new neighbors (a grandmother a bit older than me and her 8yr old grandson) must have seen me cutting some of the flowers. When the rose bush started to bloom, they put a sign on it: “Please Do Not Cut The Flowers.” They’d only been there 3 months and staked claim to a bush they didn’t even plant or own?!? Keep in mind, we share the yard.


Here it is summer and that poor rose bush is dwarfed by weeds about 3 feet high. You wouldn’t even know it’s there except for bits of yellow color. It’s a shame really...

This past weekend, the neighbor’s grown daughter, my age and mother of the grandson, moved in with her while I was gone. How do I know this? Because I when I left the house, they were moving stuff in and I heard the daughter say “I’m putting this in my room.” When I went to hang laundry yesterday, there was a canopy covered swing in the backyard. I noticed a piece of paper flapping in the wind so I walked over to take a closer look. Another sign! “Do Not Touch. Thx.” What the…. ?!? I detached the sign (LOL) and dropped it on the seat of the swing. When I went to take the laundry off the line, the sign was taped back up. LOL I was sooo tempted to take it down again, but I didn’t. So what happens if I touch the swing? Will the skies open up and lightning strike me?? I feel like writing a letter:

Dear Neighbor: Who is the sign for? The squirrels? The rabbits? Is it there so that your grandson and the neighborhood kids don't destroy it, like they've done to my nieces' and nephews' play fort? Surely, it isn't meant for me because I would ask before I used my neighbor's stuff! Some clarification, please?




Of course, I’ve already mentioned the passive aggressive behavior when it comes to mowing the yard. That behavior continues on. Tired, my fannie! Seems pretty convenient that she gets tired after doing the whole entire yard except the side her apartment isn’t on. Yet she leaves the weeds grow 3 feet high right next to the house on her side! Isn't that attractive going down the length of the driveway?

I would like to know why people don't have the courtesy to ask before borrowing stuff and why all the passive aggressive behavior? I'm polite, I don't make any noise when I'm home, and I'm rarely home -- Is it too much to ask for decent neighbors??

Now you see why I’ve been shopping for a house!