Very recently, on 4 August to be exact, I very proudly reported on my endeavours to clean up and prepare my overgrown garden for spring. I even uploaded a photo of the pile of garden refuse (all of it organic plant matter), little knowing that it would land me in hot water (well more like lukewarm as it turned out to be).
My house is one of seven in a townhouse complex. Except for one young couple, all the other residents are elderly, retired people. Ours is the last house in the row and next to our house runs the old municipal service lane that is no longer in use. We rent this lane from the municipality and in it is our garden shed and Hubby's tool-shed.
The pile of garden refuse accumulated over three consecutive Saturdays and sits in this old service lane behind the garden shed where it is not visible from any road or any other house, except one. We decided not to remove the refuse until "Operation Clean-up" was completed, as the pile is not yet big enough to fill a trailer to cart it away. In fact, Steven, my garden partner, has already starting chopping up some of the bigger items in the pile preparing for it to be carted away this coming weekend. At this time of year in our part of the world, anybody who takes any pride in his or her garden is clearing and cleaning out their gardens and piles of garden refuse is a common sight in most backyards.
Today, shortly after Hubby got home from his mornings-only job, a health inspector from the municipality arrived to inspect our backyard because a neighbour reported a health risk in our backyard! Now really... Hubby took him to the backyard and they were standing right next to the pile of garden refuse when he looked around and asked where the "garbage" was. When he realised that the pile of plant matter next to him is the "garbage" he actually shook his head and laughed. As he was leaving he could be heard muttering something about wasting time...
Now please... I have learned that those bloggers who regularly read my blog are all intelligent, mature and well-adjusted people. Could you please help me to find the correct words to describe the behaviour of this complainant and maybe figure out the reasoning behind the complaint?
PS: Do you think it is possible that just maybe, neither the health inspector nor Hubby and myself understand what constitutes a "health risk".
8 comments:
Unfortunately there are people on this planet who have NEVER been joyous, loving or in harmony with life. I have noticed that happy things make them madder... thus the complaints! Ignore THEM not the garden for in the long run this garden will give FAR more to you than they ever would or could! =0)
Thank you Leilani, actually we were not even mad but look at the whole incident with amusement. It was so clear that whoever this person is, it is somebody who does not have a life of their own and must look for ways to live through other people.
You just keep doing what you're doing and ignore those jealous types - they need to get a life.
Bad neighbors is something almost everyone encounters in life.
The Health Inspector should reproach your complaining neighbors for wasting his time. Maybe this would teach them a lesson to mind their own business.
People who are bored with themselves do a lot of silly things to pass the time. And...we have to put up with it.
Hello~ I found your blog somehow blog hoping. Your Kitty photo caught my eye. Nice blog! Hello from Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. We have silly neighbors here to that get hung up on the silliest things. We are moving in a few weeks and I am nervous about "new" neighbors. Mostly because we have three dogs that don't always make the best first impressions. Riley is a hound and she will howl as she gets familiar with the yard. Whoops! Sorry about rambling! Nice to meet you I look forward to reading more. Stop by mine sometime!
Lol, we have had our share of "nosie neighbors". Sometimes you just have to bite your tongue and look the other way. People like that will get theirs in the long run! Happy gardening!!!
This is a "PS" comment to the post. The neighbour who reported us owed up. He is an old gentleman (maybe not so much of the "gentle" and he claims that he saw rats that bred in the pile running on the fence. Amasing rats that we have! They make a nest, breed and the babies grow big enough to run on concrete fences all within a time span of 3 weeks. I told you the bushveldt was wild.
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