Right next door, we have a reclusive grumpy single man. He will not answer his front door and does not venture out, except to complain about something. We, personally, have not had a run it with him, but he's had problems with others on our street.
I look at the nice big house, he occupys, and dream of the neighbors we could have living right next door. I would love for a big family to move in. We have had several great families ask about his house and mention they would be interested if it were for sale.
Another source of building frustration is the jungle yard, It is never mowed, trimmed, or clean. It looks like an abandoned house. Tom and I have been trying to figure out what we can do. We are not the type to call the city and complain. One reason we loved this neighborhood is that there are no HOAs- we hate them. He won't answer his front door, so we have thought about leaving a note. Our frustration led to Tom making a bold move. He grabbed Cole and told him they are just going over there to "get it done." Cole was a little scared about what our neighbor might do (we don't even know his first name). I told him he would be fine.... your with dad. As soon as I heard the mower, I cowardly watched from my front porch to see if he would emerge out of his house to investigate. They got about 1/2 way through, when grumpy neighbor came driving out of his driveway. I hid on my porch and watched Tom talk to him through his car window for a few minutes. He drove away a few minutes later and then I came scurrying over to see what was said. Tom said he was real nice and was grateful for the help. Tom just explained that he has a 12 year-old son that is a great lawn mower and yard worker, and we'd like to help you out. Joe (Tom found out his name and even got a cell phone number for him) offered to pay Cole, which Tom refused. Soon , Meg and Summer came out and started pulling weeds and Ike carried over our broom and gave a good effort of sweeping. Even the guys that we hired to remove some trees, at our house, jumped in and helped us finish. Instead of teaching our neighbor a lesson, we taught ourselves a better one. Our frustration in neighbor Joe melted away and we found ourselves just happy to help him out. Ideally, Joe will hire lawn maintenance, but if he doesn't Tom and Cole are willing to take it on.
I tried to take pictures without Tom and the kids seeing
