Dealing With an Problematic Neighbour

friday

I just can’t stop. I moved the furniture out of the living room so that I could straighten the large carpet on the floor. I also vacuumed where all the furniture was and under the space heaters. When all was done in the house, I went out to the studio to move the couch so it would be easy for Dave and me to lift it later. I was busy, busy bust right up until the moment we had to leave to meet our friends to walk.

When I got home, I fetched Dave and we loaded the sofa bed out of the house and into the studio. I’ve decided that it, plus the other couch that’s been in the studio for years filling up with spiders, will go to the dump. I’ve ordered an inexpensive upholstered chair from Wayfair to add to my living room. It will open up the house more, and when I have several guests (if that ever happens), I will pull dining room chairs into the living room.

I got the chair for 40% off by purchasing a version of the chair called, “open box.” It is guaranteed to be in excellent shape, but it is an item that was returned. It cost me just two hundred bucks and it will be here next week. I’ll be putting a blanket on it to keep the cats from destroying it, but for $200 I can handle it not lasting forever.

After all the frantic work of our early morning, a long walk and carrying the sofa over to the studio, I had earned a rest. So, I got onto the chaise and watched an episode of Grand Designs. It was a big eating day. They happen, but I’ll get back to my dietary conventions on Saturday.

saturday

Saturday was foggy, damp and quite mild, but it was definitely a day for a good fire and staying indoors. I did very little yesterday. I was so exhausted from four days of constant activity doing work on the studio and then going here and there to dispose of all the stuff I wanted to be rid of. Yesterday was so busy, I simply forgot to post.

I watched videos and puttered around the house. I rid the living room of all the furniture so that I could move the living room rug to a more central position in the cavernous space that is my dining room and living room. I also reoriented the dining room table now that I have decided to not have a sofa in the house. This coming week, a plush chair I ordered from Wayfair should arrive and that will provide another seat in the living room, but the house is going to stay feeling much more open than it was with the sofa. I like the open feeling of the house now, and it is far easier to clean.

Now that I’ve run out of chores to do, I’m hoping that the books I ordered arrive soon. I bout a short series of detective novels on the recommendation of a friend. I’m praying that they engage me because I need a constructive way to pass time during this cold, wet season.

A new couple has moved into the house across the street. They’ve been there for three or four months. The woman who lives there is the sister of Colleen who lives beside me. Since they arrived, the husband has been using my driveway to make it easy for him to back into his driveway and garage, and when he pulls into my driveway, Sheba barks as she does whenever anyone comes to visit or to deliver something.

When he does it at night, his car lights shine directly into my bedroom, and at night here, people drive with their high beams on because there are no streetlights and hardly any traffic. So, when he uses my driveway at night, he turns night into day in my bedroom and Sheba explodes with barking.

So far, his use of my driveway has caused me to have four, for certain, and probably five seizures that I otherwise wouldn’t have had. I seize because the sudden loud barking of Sheba startles me. When people are coming here for dinner, I don’t seize because I often put Sheba in the backyard ten minutes before my guests are due, and her barking is barely audible to me.

So … yesterday when I went to take Sheba for a walk, we went outside and got into the car, and I proceeded to back out of the driveway. But I stopped because a car was coming along Violet Crescent. But when I stopped, it stopped. We both just sat there. The car on Violet had the right of way, but it just sat there, so finally I backed out onto the street and headed past the car down Violet.

As soon as I was out of the driveway, the car pulled into my driveway and he proceeded to then back into his driveway, and I found myself fed up and really pissed off with him. I wanted to knock on his door when I came home and ask him to stop trespassing—that is technically what he is doing, but it’s because of my seizures that I want him to stop. I wouldn’t care otherwise.

When I came home from our walk, Colleen was standing on the road outside her sister’s place, so I asked her to talk to her brother-in-law and ask him to stop using my driveway. Colleen was completely sympathetic. She said, “I shouldn’t have to ask him. He shouldn’t be using your driveway like that every day. I’ll speak with him tonight.”

It's nothing for him to drive a little past his driveway, and then back in. There’s no need for him to use my driveway. I’m glad I’ve finally addressed the issue. There was no way I could talk to him. For one thing, he’s a stranger, and for another, his actions strike me as terribly inconsiderate. He could see his lights illuminating my bedroom, yet he continually used my driveway. I’ve decided that he’s a bit of an ass, so I could not possibly speak with him.

Colleen and I get along very well. I felt comfortable asking for her help, and now all is resolved I reckon. If he does it again, I’ll start parking at the end of my driveway so that he can’t use it.

I found this photo when I was cleaning up the studio.
I've always loved it because it shows me at age three
fascinated with flowers. That love of flora is still very
strong within me, and I'm proud of that.

The living room sans sofa and without the cabinet that was behind
the sofa and serving the dinning room. That cabinet is now visible in
the photo immediately below. It's now in front of my stove. The incoming
chair will be across from the other one, close to the fire, so the room
will be uncluttered with furniture.

The dining room  now had the cabinet on the right and the table is
oriented differently. It's now 90° to how it was placed before.

The studio is now very clean and tidy. The sofas (below) are due to go to
the dump. I tried to give them away via Facebook, but there were no takers.
When they are gone, the studio will be a bit open space.

 Even my shed is orderly. All of Pinecone Park's buildings are tidy and
everything is easy to access. I'm chuffed by all that I've done.