NEIGHBOURS

Not only are my new neighbours the talk of other residents in the road, they are uppermost in my prayers. Yes, every night I pray that they will stop what they are doing and leave us all in peace.  Sadly, that is now impossible.

Two ladies, sisters, bought the bungalow next to mine shortly after Joe died and they couldn’t wait to make alterations. Three days after moving in they had all the lovely trees removed – not just cut down but REMOVED, roots and all. The hedge that divided our properties at the front was also removed, with lots of drilling and digging in the process. What was responsible for my privacy was removed and there was nothing I could do about it since I didn’t own a single leaf.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, work began on the actual building. The idea was to turn the loft into a bedroom, extend the kitchen, scrap what was adjoining the house and replace with a small conservatory type construction. What they didn’t tell me was the intention to have a window/door on the ‘loft’ reconstruction which meant my privacy would completely disappear. At one time I could have sunbathed naked in my garden, unseen by any neighbours. Now I can’t be so bold even if I wanted to – not with that window/door people can look out of and no trees to hide me.

I can see it with my own eyes now that a lot of the work is done, almost six months of it, and I can tell you that I am not a happy bunny. The bungalow no longer exists in its former state and I have yet to learn what the folk think on the other side of the house.

Every day we have been surrounded by workmen’s high-sided vans that park here all day. And cars! Some cars are parked all night and we have no idea who they belong to. Our road used to be so quiet, too ... but things were like that 25 years ago. Anything goes now!

An interesting point was raised by a few neighbours ... had planning permission been obtained for the work? Of course, I can’t answer that question but the view of many is that neighbours are normally consulted if work of this sort was given permission. Well I certainly wasn’t informed and according to neighbours neither were they. 

Oh my goodness, think of the upset if they were right. The intolerable noise that went with the alterations was bad enough, I can’t imagine how awful it would be if they were forced to tear it all down.

KILLING ME SLOWLY... WITH NOISE

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The old man who lived next door for many years is now in a care home. It’s so sad when this happens to people we know and love. He was on his own and had been for many years and as neighbours go he was the tops. I understand he is happy where he is so that’s a blessing.

Until Joe’s illness prevented it he visited Doug on a weekly basis. He was that kind of man, always kind, always considerate. Joe would report back and it seemed that nearly always he had found Doug in the bar. I didn’t even know care homes had bars let alone encourage residents to use them. No wonder Doug liked it there.

Eventually Doug’s bungalow was sold to a couple of sisters. Nice enough people but they do like spending money. Admittedly, since the house was in the same state as when Doug’s parents lived there, there is plenty to spend money on... new roof, new kitchen, new bedroom by way of a loft conversion, new garage, installation of gas (I didn’t ask!), garden jobs. End there, because apart from continual noise from workmen’s machines, banging, drilling, and hammering, this is what affects me!

Down one side of my garden are were exceptionally tall conifers that Doug would never have cut down. Joe wanted them down but I didn’t. I liked to see the birds nesting and playing in those trees. Well, Joe would be happy because the first thing new neighbours did was to take them out – not cut down – OUT. Completely! Every single one, roots and all! I never counted those trees but at a guess I would say ten or twelve. I couldn’t believe what they were doing. Of course, I’ve got used to it now and neighbours the other side agree with me that we certainly have more light. The lounge is lighter and so is the garden. It means that plants and shrubs will now be able to grow straight instead of leaning towards what light they could get. On the plus side, the view out of my lounge window is better. I can see the sunrise in the morning even if it does blind me. The only trouble is that I can’t see inside the house because of the penetrating sunlight so I’m having to rearrange everything -  including my actions.

Where once I applied facial make-up in the kitchen, because it was the best light in the house, now I have to do it in the bedroom where there is NO early sunshine. There are no counters in the bedroom on which to deposit the make-up containers, or brushes, or mirrors, magnifying and otherwise; neither is there anywhere to sit except the bed. So, you see, I’m having a rethink about what goes where. I have emptied drawers in order to fill them with different things, and when that doesn’t work I have one of those foot-stamping moments. On a bad day I throw things, though as yet nothing breakable. All because people destroyed perfectly innocent and beautiful trees.

After the tree cutting was done, they started on their front garden, removing a perfectly good hedge that separated our drives and gave us privacy from each other. Another problem arose from that. Since we’re on a hill it means my property is slightly higher and now I have to guess my way when reversing onto my drive. I have already dented the garage door ... which required the services of a helpful neighbour. I suppose you’re all muttering under your breath ‘why not drive straight in?’ I’ll tell you why. Yes, I could drive straight in but the narrowness of the road means reversing out can be quite dangerous. I was the first one in the road to realise that and you’d be surprised at the amount of male drivers who copied me. Trust a lady, eh? What did I do? I examined the layout of the front garden, measured and planned, and decided that as soon as I was able to see the wheelie bins in their hidey-hole it was time to stop ... or else! I mean, I can’t keep on asking the helpful neighbour on the other side for assistance.

 

The above moan is nothing compared to the way I feel now. The latest alteration – they come fast, literally one after another – is their roof which is being extended to accommodate a new bedroom. Soon, instead of the rear view of a tidy row of bungalows we will have one with an extension which takes up almost half a garden because they want a bigger kitchen (current one is huge) and another bedroom. The property will no longer be classed as a bungalow which is what the rest of us live in. It puzzles me why people don’t buy what they want in the first place instead of buying something small and having to extend so dramatically.

As I said earlier, the two ladies are nice people, friendly and chatty and keen to get on with new neighbours. It's just that... oh, if only they’d take a break from all those noise inducing alterations. I know Charlie the cat would be pleased if the noise stopped.

St John's Ambulance

It was a surprise to have a St John's Ambulance man knocking on the door during the recent winter weather.   He was visiting people to check that they were coping okay in our snowbound area. People in the road I live in are predominantly old folk (koff koff) so it is heartening to know that people care. The cynic in me says the visit was an ideal opportunity to obtain contributions, but deep down I know that without such professional organisations a lot of people would suffer even more.

Years ago, what this guy did was automatically done by neighbours. Now, people are lucky if they even see a neighbour from one week's end to the next. People have their own lives to lead, they don't 'neighbour' anymore, not even to borrow a cup of sugar. It's often a case of I'm alright, Jack! Of course, it depends on the area in which they reside, some districts are more neighbour friendly than others.

The saying goes that only if someone has children or pets do they get to meet others with children or pets. Dog walkers make friends easily, and taking kids to school guarantees bumping into other parents, but if you have neither kids nor dogs the reasons for going outside the four walls are greatly lessened. Imagine what it will be like in the future when even the shops don't get visited, when internet buying becomes the norm.

Before he left, the St John's man gave us a useful leaflet, folded to credit card size, which contains useful information in case of such emergencies as a stroke, heart attack, choking, bleeding, unconsciousness, or if someone has stopped breathing. Methinks I should read thoroughly in case one of the above occurs, I mean it would be awful in one of those situations to waste time reading up on what I had to do!

Looking After The Neighbours

A few weeks ago I saw something that positively enraged me. Whilst working at the computer I spotted the folk across the road leaving their house. They’re an elderly couple, a man of 94 and his wife who is 91. They were being picked up by the daughter-in-law so I knew they would be away for several hours.

During their absence a pair of window cleaners arrived. What a shame, I thought, they won’t get their back windows done.

Wrong!

Even as I thought it one of the men walked back to the van and fetched out a pair of stepladders and a long rod. These he positioned in front of the neighbour’s side gate. Grabbing the rod he climbed up, reached over the gate, and started hacking at the inside bolt.

I shot out of my house yelling ‘What on earth do you think you’re doing?’

The second guy asked what was wrong so I told him that people didn’t hack their way into other people’s property. ‘Well if we don’t,’ the second man said, ‘they don’t get their windows cleaned.’

‘What the hell do you think the bolt is for,’ I asked.

‘To protect their house,’ he said.

I asked the question again.

He looked quizzical.

‘TO STOP PEOPLE GETTING IN,’ shouted I.

While the discourse was going on the first guy went through the now open gate to get on with the task of cleaning the back windows. I was back home by the time he'd finished. I returned to my desk by the window and noticed that the neighbour's gate was locked by the same method it was opened … hacking at it with the long rod.

Cutting a long story short, after the event the neighbours were informed. They were furious. Apparently it had happened once before although they didn’t know how the men had got in. Consequently they cancelled their business with the cleaners and hired another chap.

As I said, this happened a few weeks ago. Today, while I was out, the old lady phoned and left a message. She said they were going away for three days and if I saw anything amiss at their house I was to ring the police and NOT challenge anyone whom I thought shouldn’t be there. She ended the message with ‘You must be careful, it’s dangerous to intervene.’

She’s right, of course, and I understand her reasoning. Isn’t it a shame that we can no longer stick up for friends and neighbours for fear that something will happen if we do. What sort of world are we living in these days?