Thursday, September 07, 2006

You just can't buy common sense

As some of you are aware, I moved into this ground floor flat a year ago last week. It's a semi-detached, four in a block affair but given that we've got a 12' privet hedge separating us from the "joined" neighbours, we actually chat more with the two families on the other side.

The flat above us had been empty for quite a while according to the chap we bought from, apparantly the owner was not at all well, and infact never recovered. RIP never met upstairs neighbour. The flats (of which there are many in the area - ex council) are notorious for travelling sound. Our bessie mates who handily live two minutes around the corner, already had false ceilings when they bought theirs, to muffle the noise from above, so we enjoyed our peace .... while it lasted. I even thought I'd do them a favour by cutting their hedges and mowing the lawns and even digging a couple of their flower beds, just to attract some potential buyers (nothing to do of course with the fact that I'd run out of space in my own garden and needed somewhere for my beetroot and climbing beans) :-P.

The estate agents dealing with the property came and went, signs went up and came down but still no sign of neighbours, until about a month ago. I heard clumping and banging one evening and went to investigate and found the previous owners son having a clear out as the new owners were getting their keys that weekend. Filled with fear and trepidation we peeked out from behind the blinds occasionally to see if we could spot our new neighbours.

Turns out it's a young lass with an 18 month old nipper, minus other half as I think he got cold feet! As you can imagine, a flat left empty for over a year wasn't going to be in the best of states and there have been armies of various workies ripping stuff out, reinstalling, gradually piling up a tonne of rubbish in the front garden (her side). This wasn't a problem, until this morning when I discovered the fruits of their labours all chucked into one of the brand new wheelie bins.
Various lengths of nail ridden skirting and other assorted lumps of wood all squeezed in to the bin which had joined the rest of her rubbish. Who in their right mind ever thought that the bin men were going to remove this stuff was beyond me and ruining a brand new bin to boot. Worse to come when I got home tonight to find that the major heap of trash gone but leaving rubbish all over our gardens, next doors AND the whole street. It looked as if the whole dustbin lorry had just upended spreading crap everywhere. Broken glass all over the shared path and various bits of rubber strip scattered all over. Me not happy. We also live by a school and the amount of sweetie and crisp wrappers being chucked in/under my hedge has noticeably increased since school started again. So instead of spending my first hour at home tending to all my babies, I ended up sweeping. Oh and they never did clear the bin which is still sitting there full of (useless) wood. Now there's a shock.

Glad to have got off my chest. I can sleep peacefully now.

Night night.

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