Long abscence, long story......

Discussion in 'The Village Square' started by gardenelf, Feb 2, 2013.

  1. gardenelf

    gardenelf In Flower

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    My goodness, it's been ages since I posted anything here on "the Stew".
    What happened? New neighbours happened :eek: Well, not direct neighbours, but 2 doors away (I live in a terraced house). I am not one to judge or gossip, but lets just say these people are rather "noisy". Their screeching Amazon parrot was quite audible all summer, so enjoying a relaxing cup of tea in my garden was totally impossible. Screaming, swearing & belching parents and their crying kids didn't help either.
    Instead of wallowing in self-pity, I keep thinking of my direct neighbours. They bear the full brunt of it all, and they have told me they wish to move a.s.a.p. Can't blame them.
    Anyway, I have not done as much to/in my garden as I would have liked.
    One remarkable thing, though: despite the rather chilly and wet summer, my tomatoes showed not the slightest sign of blight, and for the first time ever they tasted really sweet :-D
    So you see, I do my best to stay on the positive side of things.
    There's always my boyfriend's garden I can escape to, or rather, could. My back is playing up a lot, so any bending or digging are a no-no. Just when a lot of his garden needs to be dug up. I have lots of plans, but not sure if I can implement them. Where it comes to gardening, he (boyfriend) has 2 left hands, can't tell one plant from another. Bless him :stew1:
    And just when you think things can't get any worse: my garden needs to be dug up too. There is a breech in the powercable running to the shed, leaving it literally "powerless". At night it is soooo dark around the shed, it's spooky! (used to have lots of fairy lights there). The cable is broken somewhere between the back door and the shed, so digging is inevitable. No idea when this will take place, my housing association isn't in a hurry.
    There is an up-side, though, I may be able to change the layout of the garden, since it will be dug up anyway.
    My head is full of plans, ideas & planting schemes, especially when reading the beautiful gardening encyclopedia I recently bought. When I have it in front of me, I feel like a kid in a candy shop. I want it all!! :-D
    I'll keep you all posted on how things develop, if I remember I'll take some "before, during & after" photo's when they replace the power cable.
    (Sorry for the long story, thanks for reading!)

    Take care, all!!
     
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  3. Sjoerd

    Sjoerd Mighty Oak

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    Nice to see you back, GE.
    Sorry to hear about the noisy neighbours and your back.
    Fingers crossed that things improve on all fronts.
     
  4. Netty

    Netty Chaotic Gardener Plants Contributor

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    Welcome Back Gardenelf!
    So sorry to hear about your bad neighbors ... I know what it's like. Actually, bad neighbors is what finally got us to move to acreage in the country!
    I would look at the broken cable as the perfect time to re-vamp your garden ... just remember to keep in marked so that you don't have to worry about digging it up :)
     
  5. eileen

    eileen Resident Taxonomist Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    It's lovely to have you back with us Gardenelf. :D
    Neighbours can be the bane of our lives can't they? Let's hope they move or at least calm down and become less intrusive.
    Sorry to hear about you having back problems. Hopefiuly the better weather, when it comes, will help you feel better. Are you getting any treatment for the pain? I do hope so.
    Housing associations are never very quick of the mark when it comes to sorting things out sadly. Anything that they have to spend time and money on always seems to take ages to get rectified. If they do come to sort out the power I'd love to see your photographs.

    WELCOME HOME!!
     



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  6. marlingardener

    marlingardener Happy

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    Glad to hear from you again, Elf! I am sorry about your back--please take it easy and don't stress it. Healing takes time.
    Also sorry about your neighbors. Has anyone mentioned directly to them that their noise carries, and that you and your other neighbors can hear their conversations and activities? They may just be clueless as well as, shall we say, unsophisticated?
    If the irritation persists, get your neighbors to get on the home association's case and persist, persist, persist. :smt018
     
  7. stratsmom

    stratsmom Flower Fanatic

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    So good to hear from you :-D I can sympathize with your back issues. I'm going through the same thing and hate it :'( I love your positive attitude and bright outlook!. I spent the morning looking at a new gardening magazine and felt exactly like you! I have dog eared pages and underlined all the cool things I must have! :p
     
  8. KK Ng

    KK Ng Hardy Maple

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    Welcome back Gardenelf, keeping my finger crossed too that you the unwanted problem would go away soon!!! :)
     
  9. gardenelf

    gardenelf In Flower

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    Thank you all for the heartwarming Welcome Home!

    Marlingardener, actually this is exactly what my direct neighbours (the ones experiencing most of the noise etc) have been trying to do. From friendly requests right upto official complaints (which I co-signed), nothing has worked. Not much we can do, because both parents and children in this family have lots of problems, they are well known to social services. It appears we are the ones that should adapt, not them. "We should give them a chance, they can't help it". Right.... :twisted:
    Personally I don't dare to speak to these people, because they are rather intimidating.
    At least I can escape around the corner, to my boyfriend's house. My poor neighbours are stuck!

    Okay, enough ranting. Things aren't all bad: thank goodness none of the plants have been scared away, the little troopers are already showing new growth & promise for spring. Yippee, can't wait :D

    P.S.: Even though I have been absent on the Stew, I
    have thought of you all every time there were reports of hurricanes, droughts, forest fires, floods etc. I read/heard/saw it, and promised myself to come and check if everybody was alright. Only to fall asleep at the computer (have laptop at bedside) before even logging in.... :eek:
     
  10. gardenelf

    gardenelf In Flower

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    Powercable-update:
    Last week they replaced the powercable, and I am happy to say that the housing association splashed out on an expensive but garden-friendly method! :-D
    They dug a couple of holes, one at the house & one at the shed, then sent a torpedo-like thing about 50 cm deep from one end to the other, pneumonic, powered by air-pressure. Shaky business, noisy too! Cable was threaded through, connected, and then there was light! (they started 07.30, and everything was tidied up by 09.30. Fast & efficient 8))

    I promised some photo's, but guess what: nothing to see! Everything looks just as if nothing ever happened, which of course is a good thing.
    Now, whenever the gardenlight comes on at night (has sensor), it makes me smile. After all, it was rather dark there for a whole month!

    Lots of garden planning to do now! :stew1:
     
  11. eileen

    eileen Resident Taxonomist Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    I'm so glad you didn't have much inconvenience when the housing association laid the powercable for you. It certainly sounds as though they did a quick and efficient job with the least amount of mess.
    What a pity the noise they made didn't impact on your neighbours to make them realise that noise travels and isn't pleasant.
     
  12. koszta kid

    koszta kid Young Pine

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    Sorry about bad neighbor and your back also.Down the road I will raise all my beds so not have to bend as much.
     
  13. gardenelf

    gardenelf In Flower

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    Must admit the thought of them being affected by the noise crossed my mind, but you're right, Eileen, it more than likely didn't. For now I'll just try to enjoy my garden whenever I can, and do my best to ignore them. (maybe wear earplugs or something :D )

    Kozta, raised beds are definitely a project for the (near) future, but luckily maintaining my little garden doesn't often involve much strenuous work. It's my boyfriend's garden I'm a bit worried about, but although he couldn't tell one plant from another, he is getting better and better at helping me around the garden. Actually, gardening together is quite fun! :stew1:
     
  14. Tooty2shoes

    Tooty2shoes Hardy Maple

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    Gardenelf glad you are back to the stew also. To bad it was such an easy fix for the lighting to be turned back on. Oh well. Next project. You mentioned about getting your garden dug up. Have you ever heard about trench gardening? It sounds a lot easier to do that digging up a whole garden. You can make your trench up to how ever wide you want it. I think I will try a 12 or 14 inch wide one. Then you make it as long as you want right in your lawn. You need to leave your trench's wide enough apart so you can mow the grass between them. I hate having to work up my garden in the spring. But this sounds so much easier.
    Hope those neighbors have an infestation of fleas that will drive them out of there home. Or maybe a plague. ;)
     
  15. gardenelf

    gardenelf In Flower

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    Trench gardening? Until now, Tooty, I must admit I'd never heard of it, but it sounds & looks (Googled a bit) pretty cool. Thanks for the suggestion, it's definitely something to consider for a small area in my boyfriend's garden. That is, if he agrees, of course ;)

    Flea infestation, now that wòuld be funny, wouldn't it? Can just imagine them running out the door scratching & screaming :D
     
  16. Tooty2shoes

    Tooty2shoes Hardy Maple

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    Yup it can get pretty nasty. Many years ago I lived in an upstairs apt. The lady downstairs had a cat. It got fleas and they didn't do anything about it until! :eek: They started to bite them and cause sores on their ankles and other parts of their bodies. It was so bad they had to have an exterminator come in and bomb the house and the basement area. :eek: They also did get rid of their cat. Poor kitty. What it must have been going threw with all those fleas in the house.
     

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