MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
So, from previous threads you may have seen that I've been working on my stone shed. I've laid a new roof and the next job on the list is to dig out the back wall which is half below ground as the gardens are tiered. Anyway, the garden behind mine is rented by an old lady next door. In the 18 months we've been here we've always been very nice to her and given her a few plants and passed over some of my nan's magazines (Good Housekeeping, not my thing tbh). We've seen her do some odd things occasionaly, talking to herself that sort of thing. Nothing that unusual for someone 70+.
Before doing any work I asked if it was ok to access the last few feet of the shed roof from her garden as it would be much easier from her garden as it is higher. She was fine with this however two nights later she came up the garden, face like thunder, waving her arms around claiming I had moved her recycle box without permission. The box in question was against the shed wall and I moved it about three feet out of the way so I could get as close to the roof as possible. I explained I would move it back as soon as I was finished however, she wasn't happy, became very aggressive, called me 'stupid' and stormed off.
Since then she has spent most of her spare time piling lots of junk against the back wall of the shed preumably to make it as difficult for me as possible to reach the last bit of stonework that needs finishing off. Not to mention digging out all the soil and replacing it with stone etc to stop the damp.
I went up there tonight to see what the situation was, mainly to make sure she hadn't been stuffing crap into the exposed stonework, this is what I found:
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Obviously finishing the stonework is going to be a PITA with all that crap in the way and I'll be dammed if I'm moving it, whilst the digging out and replacing it soil with stone will just be a nightmare at this rate.
TBH I haven't got time for all this nonsense, I've got a job list as long as my arm and I need to get things done. The last thing I need is some fruitcake next door making difficult jobs even more difficult. Of course the sensible voice says buy her a bunch of flowers and try to get her chill out.
What to do?
she'd probably had a few sherries when you asked her permission and forgot and thought that you were doing it without her consent..
your next task is to explain to her that you asked her permission, which will lead to her accusing you of calling her senile and crazy, at which point she will kick right off and poison your cats (probably)
Have you considered that she might have a health condition, or cognitive issue that you don't know about?
Can you contact other member of her family? She may be ill. I think you have a right to access for maintenance (with notice given) being as the wall is on the boundry
Have you considered that she might have a health condition, or cognitive issue that you don't know about?
She almost certainly has by the sounds of things. She's probably forgotten the original conversation, and dementia can easily make you, well, let's say "irrational."
Does that make the question any less relevant though?
Have you considered that she might have a health condition, or cognitive issue that you don't know about?
I have to be fair and previously I would have been more sympathetic. However, she's spent the last two week piling all that crap up. This wasn't a few minutes of anouyance or even a day of her thinking she had to get her own back or somthing, this is two weeks of calculated actions designed to make our lives more diffciult.
Can you contact other member of her family? She may be ill. I think you have a right to access for maintenance (with notice given) being as the wall is on the boundry
She has littl or no family that we know of, consequently we invited her for Christmas last year as she was going to be on her own, she declined however.
She might just be an arse, but it's definitely worth following this up with relatives or perhaps phone Alzheimer's Society and get their advice on how to proceed. Just think how good you'd feel if you helped a potentially vulnerable adult to remain safe.
My friend has Alzheimers, he can get very stressed and hung up on things these days when things haven't gone to plan or something changes his routine.
He still works 8+ hours a day and is an amazing engineer.
We just have to help him manage his life a little more these days.
Rented you say speak to the landlord.
Go to a charity shop and buy some baby clothes
Go to a party shop and buy a selection of balloons
Inflate some balloons and stuff them inside the clothes so you have something that might look loke a small child from a dstance
Tie it upside down to the pole.
When the fun starts, deny all knowledge but use the opportunity to ask why all that crap is there anyway.