Think yourself lucky you don't live opposite the Washing Gestapo, like me!
Washing Gestapo?
Think yourself lucky you don't live opposite the Washing Gestapo, like me!
What I do nowadays is use a cordless mower (from Q) which is very lightweight, and the battery lasts 20 minutes.He already has one and uses it to cut our and our neighbour's lawn (back issues). For someone who hates mowing, he seems to like doing it the time he spends out there I used to do it in half the time!
Have you thought of letting a goat out there? You could check locally if anyone has one willing to let it roam there. It would do a great job but our old neighbours kept goats and there is zero chance I'd ever do that!
I'd be wary of legalities, too. No good deed goes unpunished as I've found out several times.
You could always get a garden maintenance guy there to clear the worst then keep it down yourself.
Goats=fun but poo everywhere & eat anything. They also have this goaty smell. I've been told that Billy goats smell a lot.He already has one and uses it to cut our and our neighbour's lawn (back issues). For someone who hates mowing, he seems to like doing it the time he spends out there I used to do it in half the time!
Have you thought of letting a goat out there? You could check locally if anyone has one willing to let it roam there. It would do a great job but our old neighbours kept goats and there is zero chance I'd ever do that!
I'd be wary of legalities, too. No good deed goes unpunished as I've found out several times.
You could always get a garden maintenance guy there to clear the worst then keep it down yourself.
long story (rsi)Washing Gestapo?
When I moved in, the first time I met my neighbour was when she leaned out of her bathroom window, which was the ONLY window overlooking my garden, and naturally had FROSTED glass.long story (rsi)
Lady over the road comments about my washing & if it's left out for too long, becaus e she has to look at it from her window!!!! Hers is perfect,obvs, & she irons teatowels, whereas I fold mine in to submission.
Moans ifanyone dares to cut a tree down. I'm a bit afraid of her, but she also winds me up.
Did you move the line?When I moved in, the first time I met my neighbour was when she leaned out of her bathroom window, which was the ONLY window overlooking my garden, and naturally had FROSTED glass.
At the time, I was putting up a temporary rotary line, before installing a straight one later.
She shouted out "the previous owner put theirs behind the house, so I wouldn't be able to see it". Bear in mind it was FROSTED glass!
From then on, we called her Mrs Bucket.
No, and soon after that we put up a very long straight line, but still in view through her frosted glass windowDid you move the line?
It's glorious & a ride-on mower would be perfect, how she manages with a petrol one push one is beyond me. Ours is 175 feet long & as wide as 1930s semi (?) & hers must be 10 times bigger! My sister met her husband at horticultural college, they got gold at Chelsea before it became commercialised & they created beautiful gardens but after he died she talked about moving because the garden is such a huge commitment & the house is fairly large as well. However, it's been her salvation, & she's said that if/when she has grandchildren she's like them to enjoy it with her. My brother in law was a wonderful man; my hero who fought two brain tumours & then cancer of the spinal cord with determination & humour, I see him everywhere in their home & garden & have sent the negligent doctor, who caused his death, to Hell on many occasions.Mr. AE would love your sister's garden but only if he could have a ride-on mower!
Yours sounds like ours - perfect for me, though a terrace might be difficult. I no longer contribute to the upkeep, I just enjoy it, along with the wildlife visitors while I can.
The only 'problem' with our garden is the long washing line I insisted Mr. AE erect when we moved in - complete with a pulley system that fills me with inexplicable joy. Visitors have been known to wrinkle their nose at it but, for me at least, there is nothing like watching my washing blow on a windy day.
Er goat expert? Washing gestapo? Do you have night time goggles to make sure badgers aren't out there at midnight munching your weeds?Goats=fun but poo everywhere & eat anything. They also have this goaty smell. I've been told that Billy goats smell a lot.
I don't recommend goats for someone unused to larger animals or un willing/able to be firm with them when needed.
I would have had a different name for her but it wouldn't be polite to post it here.From then on, we called her Mrs Bucket.
long story (rsi)
Lady over the road comments about my washing & if it's left out for too long, becaus e she has to look at it from her window!!!! Hers is perfect,obvs, & she irons teatowels, whereas I fold mine in to submission.
Moans ifanyone dares to cut a tree down. I'm a bit afraid of her, but she also winds me up.
Every female in my family is a fan of ironing, sad individuals IMO. I do it because I love my clothes & like to look smart. When I had three shirts a day from him & the girls I would always get them washed, dried & ironed within the day because I didn't want a pile of ironing; I whizzed through them pretending that I was pressing my mother in law's face & could do a man's shirt in 40 seconds.Well, if she ever dares to moan again tell her from me that washing on a line is a grand sight to behold and much better for the environment than the (lazy) people who only use tumble dryers (obviously people without gardens don't have the line option). Or people who take theirs in too early then finish off in the dryer - even on a lovely day when the have nothing better to do - yes, sis, you!).
You could also mention you think her windows need cleaning (I'm betting they don't) as this will give her something else to do with them other than nosing out of them. It'll also mess with her head
My friend irons EVERYTHING. Even socks. Even bras (I can see you all shaking your heads in confusion, especially as she's an E cup). I used to love ironing but never went that far and now can't stick it for more than the essentials these days. I look at it as another way I'm helping the environment. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
I'm not sure quite what she means either as unless she's talking about beer gardens or other people's gardens. You were able to move freely (maybe that's what she meant) from your home to your garden during lockdown!!!!
Can't you complain to either the landlord or local council about the state of the garden.The house next door to us is a privately rented property and the garden is huge, the biggest in the street because it`s an end property but of all the tenants which have lived there since it was available to rent, not a single one of them have done a damned thing with it.
The grass is knee high, its full of weeds and dandelions, the current tenant has a huge pile of broken wooden pallets stacked in it, there`s broken bits of furniture and other stuff lying around it. The other side of our adjoining fence has a huge patch of nettles growing along it which somehow manage to get through our fence and as much as I complain to them, they take not a blind bit of notice.
The one thing which annoys me more than anything is they have 3 children who could be enjoying having a large safe place to play but during lockdown they were cooped in the house and all I could hear was them being bawled at.
The Mum is in her 20`s, her boyfriend in his 30`s so physically able to deal with a garden and neither of them work so they have the time to spend on it if they wanted to. Nothing but lazy bone idle slobs and those poor kids are missing out of what could be a fun playtime. The local online free market place regularly offers outdoor slides, swings, trampolines etc for free collection but they simply can`t be bothered.
When I go into my garden the little girls next door regularly shout at me through their bedroom window and they`re looking out at the house to the rear of us which is full of kids playing and enjoying themselves but all the poor little mites next door can do is to gaze wistfully and wish it was them. Makes my blood boil !
The tenants never seem to stay longer than a couple of years. I think it`s tied to the housing benefit system and the rent on the house next door is probably at the higher end so the tenants probably have to make a larger contribution to it than they would in social housing. They tend to stay for a while and until they get a Council House. The last 2 families have been single parents, Mums with kids but they secretly have a boyfriend staying there too and the Mums live totally on benefits.Can't you complain to either the landlord or local council about the state of the garden.
Next door but one to us is a four bedroomed house that has been massively extended. This has been going on for four years now,we have complained about the state of the front and it was cleared but is as bad now.
There are some absolute monstrosities around the estate and all the frontages are paved over plus cars parked outside. The trouble is our streets are not wide enough and it causes lots of problems.
Every female in my family is a fan of ironing, sad individuals IMO. I do it because I love my clothes & like to look smart. When I had three shirts a day from him & the girls I would always get them washed, dried & ironed within the day because I didn't want a pile of ironing; I whizzed through them pretending that I was pressing my mother in law's face & could do a man's shirt in 40 seconds.
The tenants never seem to stay longer than a couple of years. I think it`s tied to the housing benefit system and the rent on the house next door is probably at the higher end so the tenants probably have to make a larger contribution to it than they would in social housing. They tend to stay for a while and until they get a Council House. The last 2 families have been single parents, Mums with kids but they secretly have a boyfriend staying there too and the Mums live totally on benefits.
The house is owned by someone who lives abroad and he leaves it in the hands of a letting agent. Whenever a tenant moves out they send in the decorators to give it a fresh lick of paint and they send in a gardening company who blitz the grass but that`s about it and then when the next tenant moves in they just seem to let it grow wild again. Our hope is that the owner will one day sell it or we`ll get a long term tenant who works, takes pride in it and looks after it.