What's that they say about neighbors and fences?

Well, I thought we'd need a fence! Let me start by saying, when we moved here 22 years ago, we already had a pretty good group of friends. We never tried to make friends in the neighborhood. Still, we're good neighbors and are always pleasant.

We have a neighbor on the right of us who---how shall I put this---is rather difficult. Okay I'll just say it, she's a "bitch!" I guess I should have realized it about 17 years ago when she called me and asked if the homeowners association had sent us a letter about our boat which is sitting in the driveway. That's against the neighborhood rules. She said that they had gotten a notice about their trailer. Now mind you, our boat is at the rear of the drive and is barely visible from the street. And usually there is a car parked in front of it. Their trailer was a rotted wood, rusty piece of crap that was plainly visible to anyone driving by. She then told me that they drove around the neighborhood and "turned in" everyone that violated any rules--us being one of them. Yep, pretty soon, we got that letter. Even after the association threatened to place a lien on the house, we decided to ignore it. It would be cheaper to pay off the lien---if and when we ever decided to sell the house rather than rent a storage place. Okay, that's the end of that story.

Story #2. Along the side of our driveway, is a row of trees. They are beautiful Sweet Gum trees. Even their spikey balls don't bother me. We've been mulching around the bottom of those trees for years. Early on, said neighbor came over to let me know that those were "their" trees. I asked her if she had a problem with me making them look better. Seriously? Would you have a problem if your neighbors wanted to spend their own money improving something that belongs to you? I think not! Okay, there's that.

Story #3. Anyway, a couple years ago, after a bad storm, one of the trees near the bottom of the drive, lost a huge limb that fell on our driveway. I called the neighbor to suggest that we split the cost of the removal---after all, it was technically their tree. She said "no" that she would not do that. That really fired me up! Then I found out, that by law, even though it was their tree, what fell on our property was our problem. We took care of it.

I swear, it wasn't a month later that it happened again, but on the other side of our property. The tree that fell belonged to the other neighbor, but fell on our side. He immediately called me to apologize and that he'd get it cleared up asap. I told him that it was our responsibility. He said, "well, it's our tree. That doesn't seem fair." I suggested that we split the cost. Yeah, that's what neighborly neighbors do! Poor guy, he just lost another big tree last week, but this time it fell on his side. I felt bad for him, but not bad enough to offer to help pay! I guess I'm not quite that neighborly!

Story #4. On to my recent problem with "right hand" neighbor. Several years ago, they had a pool put in. If you know anything about pools, the maintenance requires flushing out the filter. This caused all of their run-off to shoot on to our driveway which ate away our driveway sealer. I called her and asked her if she would meet me outside. She did. I started explaining the problem. I told her that the tubing should have been buried underground. I didn't even mention the fact that it was an eyesore to us---they couldn't see it from their front. Plus, I said the trees would benefit from the extra water. I offered to split the cost with her---because that's the neighborly thing to do. Right? She refused, saying that the problem was ours. She said that since we put in a little flower bed, that changed the lay of the land and caused the problem. OMGosh! There was no reasoning with her. What she said didn't make any sense at all because the flower bed was above the run-off! I told her that. I was so aggravated. I just said, "okay, I guess there's nothing else to discuss."

This is what it looks like from out driveway. I did not have a "before" picture, but the tubing is gone. They had the drainage problem fixed the right way.

You can see how the pipes are buried. Now the water runs off right down the tree line. I guess her husband isn't a jerk! But really, we offered to pay half. I'm totally fine not paying at all! Had she been nicer, I might have called and offered again! That would have been the neighborly thing to do, right? Well, I didn't and I don't feel a bit bad about it! Now who has turned in to the "bitch?" 

Don't push me!