best of luck to you!!!

WOW ............the never ending drama . I'm crossing my fingers for you .

Wow...I'm tired just reading about your dilemma. Hope it will be a closed case soon..it's got to be nerve racking.

I hate neighbors, hate them. the old witch next door, got after me one day for HER vine growing on her fence. I pointed out to her that if she looked close, the stems came from her side, and if she chose to spray her honeysuckle for gosh sake, that was fine, but I didn't want it to come over to my flowers. I know she has called the health department on me a couple of times, but so far, they have only asked me "consolidate" my projects--instead of having everything scattered around. I am a little worried right now, as my side yard looks like a garage sale with all of my dishes, vases etc... on one table waiting for it to stop raining, so that I can get them combined. Oh well, strawberry, hang in there, you make me want to go get my peace sign tshirt on and hold hands and sing "we shall overcome". Bev

Strawberry, you poor thing! I know this had to be exhausting and nerve racking. I know how things were with my Bob's dealings with the city building inspectors the summer he had his heart attack, colon cancer surgery and horrible lung infection.

I was talking to a co-worker about how the city gets all excited if someone's house needs painting yet people are being robbed and their homes broken into left and right on the same street. Where are the priorities? That's why the City of Milwaukee has become one giant toilet bowl. I would think that city officials could find something better to do with their time.

Good luck!

This might sound weird but is there anyway you can inlist a group of kids to help you put this "stuff" together?? Teens love to help with, and have great imaginations for this "stuff" and if you can get them to help put some together , then they tell their parents about all the fun they are having re-cycling "stuff" and attitudes change fast.....Good luck with it all

We'll have to get R Murray to make a big metal hand...saluting them, to put in your yard!lol!

thanks for the encouragement to continue, less stress.

geeme, yes, I have done quite a bit of thinking about talking to a particular individual in town.
he's a councilman and also in his day job, is the drama coach at one local high school.
three of my kids were in the childrens' theater a number of years ago.
I used to volunteer making lots and lots of costumes for the kids, way back then.

I agree that kids have wonderful imaginations and could probably do a better job of designing my yard, than what I could ever do.
the stuff is there...
if the teacher/coach would agree, they could do it all in the name of community service, which is very important to their high school portfolios, for graduation.
it could definately be a win/win deal.

and probably make it to an article in the paper, considering the underlying problems that would bring it to fruition.

I'm glad you reminded me of what I had been thinking of a few months ago but actually it flew out of my mind, in the midst of the chaos.

again, thanks to all........

Becky

I think you should take strong exception to the terminology "solid waste" which in health department lingo really implies raw sewage. Your items are intended to be decorative and as such are not "waste" by any definition. If your neighbors take exception to your decorating style, maybe you should criticise their lackluster, boring style and complain to them about it.

Having said all that, I would like to see a few pics of your decorations and if anyone else here has some suggestions for ways to help you get organized better maybe they could offer you some assistance. Remember, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, remind your neighbors of that, and if you have any other choice scriptural references, throw them in too. Cheryl

Becky, enlisting the kids is a great idea! I know how overwhelming things can get when you start a collection of "junk" for projects (I say this from experience!). Having the kids work with you would make much shorter work of putting your projects together. They would learn some cool things, everyone would be "green" (gawd I am getting to hate that term! lol) and they would be performing a community service too boot. Like you said, it's a win/win situation for all concerned. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your fun projects!

Good luck. I'm glad to hear that the city is changing their attitude. Now you've got me curious about your cousin's problem. You could offer yourself as a consultant to the city as an expert on garden junk/art! If they are writing new standards, I suggest that you get in on the process.
I have wonderful neighbors, however as they slowly all paint their houses beige, I worry that I'm too "colorful". Luckily one of the next door neighbors has a huge pink house, so we look relatively conventional! I am worried a bit about what will happen when the older couple next door (white cape, not the big pink house) eventually moves. Their house is so close that we can hear eachother talking on our porches. Nice to be cmpatible in that situation. I;ve heard so many bad neighbor stories...
Kathy