...And Like A Good Neighbor...

[thistlebloom]

My neighborhood has changed dramatically in one year.

I live on a gravel road with no outlet. Also called a Dead End, but that's such a downer. Lets be fancy and call it a Cul-De-Sac.

One house was abandoned and sat empty for a year.
One property had a new house built.
One house changed owners.

The abandoned house was cleaned up, auctioned off by the bank and bought by a young guy. Young enough to be called a kid by some of us old fogeys.
He has kept the weed lawn mowed short and also keeps the roadside mowed.
HUGE improvement over the former owners.
He likes to work on his truck and play his music loud while he does this.
I can live with that.

The new house at the end of the road, one away from me has a young family, four kids 8 years old and under. Lots of laughing and shrieking going on over there.
I can definitely live with that!

The house that changed owners, across from our property but facing our tree line, has another young family, with three kids, 8 years old and under. Also much laughing and kid noise there. I love it!

The kids from the two families are pals and there is a regular stream of bikes and dogs criss crossing in front of our house. We have been invited to a bbq at one home, and dinner at the other. The kids have discovered my mini Cooper and Huckleberry Mule, and Sweet Pea obligingly hatched some chicks for their amusement. They are regular visitors and love doing chores with me.

One family picked my surprise apples and gave us 3 jars of homemade pie filling, and today the other neighbors brought us a basket with huckleberry jam, homemade salsa, jalapeno cheese and elk. I mean!!!

I can't figure out how we managed to be so fortunate and get so many lovely neighbors after years of marginal to crummy ones, but I'm going to do every thing I can to reciprocate and keep things going in a positive direction.

Do you have neighbors that make your day a little brighter?

 

[journey11]

All of my neighbors up here with the exception of one (a young man who is a druggie & thief) are fine folks, very friendly and they look out for each other. I am particularly fond of my neighbor, Mavis, who is 78 years young and a real inspiration. Last summer I watched her build her own deck! And the one before that, she was climbing on top of her ex-husband's pole barn helping him lay sheet metal roofing. She taught me how to pressure can beans. We often exchange perennials and extra veggies. She is a real genuine Christian lady who is loving to everyone and has often pitched in to help where she could when others were in need or had an emergency. She is so kind to my kids and is always giving them treats (and sometimes Mt. Dew, LOL.) They just love her and coming running when they see her outside. She'll always ask you to sit a spell on the porch and I have often stayed long after sunset, talking and enjoying her company. In the first year after we moved here, she lost her 35 year old son tragically and her adult daughter had died about 10 years prior to that from cancer, leaving her to raise her 3 grandchildren. Those were the only children she had. But she just keeps on going, kind and sweet and positive. She is really something.

 

[digitS']

That is very encouraging, @thistlebloom and @journey11!

I generally try to act as tho neighbors should be handled with "kid gloves!" There is no good scheme for avoidance.

I have some very generous neighbors but several, I had to search out. Then, I moved into their backyards with my garden tools and seed! My approach to things is still to maintain boundaries. I don't do their yardwork, unless they are on vacation. They can come out whenever they want for something out of the garden. I won't be leaving things on their front porch.

I also don't take them up on every generous offer. "Oh heck, park on the lawn!" "Not gonna do it. You'll come to hate me."

I've got neighbors with behavior that I disapprove of. It makes me uncomfortable and maybe they realize that and avoid me. I still smile and wave even with infrequent responses. They probably think I'm the village idiot - but, why would I care ?

Some favorite neighbors are the little kids in the school playgrounds. I don't interact well with little kids - I can't hear them ... it's still nice to have them around and see their enthusiasm for life!

Steve

 

[NwMtGardener]

That's awesome thistle, a whole new batch of nice neighbors and you didnt even have to pack up all your stuff and go anywhere!

We're enjoying our neighbors at our new house, also. Only 1 place is kinda derelict, and there's definitely some loud fighting on occassion over there, but hasn't been a big deal. And they have a nice dog.

We're trying to be good neighbors, and i had to go apologize for Lucy dog's behaviour the other day. Across the street on the right side of our house is an auto shop, and the owner lives in the house down the road on the left side of our house. He walks back and forth, and sometimes has from 1 to 3 pit bulls with him, who are very well behaved. They walk on the opposite side of the street, which is also a cul de sac, so almost no traffic. The first couple times Lucy went out to mingle with them everything went fine, everyone friendly. But now that we've lived here longer, she's apparently decided its "her" street. A few days ago, like an idiot, she charged out in full on attack mode, and got sent scurrying back to the house limping. I immediately went and apologized, since i saw she was the one who instigated the whole thing. Hopefully she learned her lesson!

 

[goatgurl]

guess I'm the odd gurl out. my sister is the only neighbor i can see, she lives on my property other than that my closest neighbors are about half mile away. we visit once in a while and i baby sit their dogs when they go out of town but they both work full time and are busy with family. the good thing is that they're there if i need them and i help them when they need it. a new couple moved in across from them and we have visited but they kind of keep to themselves. further up the road lives a family who are only here a few months a year, they have a guide company in Colorado for hunters and spend most of their time there. and i kind of like it this way, not antisocial but like my privacy.

 

[Smart Red]

I am a bit like goatgurl with my neighbors. My BFF moved into her parents' home the same time I retired, so to my west one mile - and the next house - is a good friend. Around here, anyone within walking distance must be a neighbor. That one mile is nearly as far as I get, although I've visited neighbors further away.

DH has always been a tad bit of an introvert, rather self-conscious and reserved from his feelings of being so poor as a child. He certainly deserved what he got when he married me. Teacher voice, perpetual smile, Pollyanna view of the world, and outgoing personality. Through the years he's become more outgoing and I've been more reserved. Now that he's having some problems, he's even less likely to want to go visiting.

So, while I have had conversations with all the neighbors -- except the one whose property abuts with mine to the East -- we don't get together often and rather stay to ourselves and our own families. Since you've already heard some about my nearest neighbors, I'll not bore you again except to say I received a 15 page questionnaire called "INTERROGATORIES" to fill out and return to their lawyer. I am working on a questionnaire of my own for the neighbors. After this action, I suspect a court date is not far in the offing. My feelings are that the UAW-GM free legal services are being phased out in Janesville, and all cases are expected to be resolved by the end of the year.

 

[seedcorn]

When we moved to Indiana, neighbor in town was helpful and we loved giving each other a hard time (if I didn't mow to suit him, he'd mow a path for me). As a carpenter, he helped fix some things (like bathroom door had to be shortened as we put in carpeting). He thought MIL wouldn't appreciate bathroom not having door.....

When moved into country, neighbor stopped by to meet us. First big snow storm, stopped to see if we were ok. Used wood heat, when he stuck his head in, blast of hot air hit him. He laughed and said "see all is good". Great neighbors.

 

[ninnymary]

So happy you have nice neighbors. Now everyone in your neighborhood is nice!

Mary

 

[seedcorn]

What is fun is that my neighbor waves at everyone and now I do. The more new people on our road think we're nuts, the more we wave or honk! If someone has tragedy, neighbor hood kicks in.

He goes by Loppy, what a great name.

 

[thistlebloom]

We're wavers too. Even get the UPS guy to wave now.

My husband is the one that convinced me to wave at everybody, even the jerk that lives on our south boundary.

He says we shouldn't let the turkeys dictate how friendly we're going to be. It just confuses them when they're being hateful and we can smile and wave. I still don't like waving at the troublemaker, but if my waving confuses him then I can wave as furiously as any halfwit.