You know, Ive lived in my house for over twenty years now, and my neighbours been around for nearly as long. He started building just as we were doing our finishing touches, so weve sort of grown up together on this street. We know each other pretty well lots of chats over the fence, even popped round for a cuppa at each others sometimes, but weve never really been what youd call close friends.
Last winter, it just got to be a bit much managing the house on my own, so I went to stay with my daughter for a while. Once spring rolled around and the weather was warming up, I had it in my head to get back home.
So, I returned near the end of April, once all the snow had gone, and thankfully everything was as Id left it. I jumped straight into sorting out the front garden and my veg patch out the back. Cleared up out front, planted some flowers, put in raspberry bushes along the edge, and made sure to tie up the old apple tree. I got some potatoes in the ground, but mostly I went for smaller fruit and veg type things, and a few blueberries for good measure.
Ive got these two little greenhouses, about waist high, so I put cucumbers and peppers in one, and used another for my tomatoes. Out in the beds I planted strawberries, carrots, onions, and some dill. Along the fence that divides our gardens, Ive lined it with currant and gooseberry bushes. I really went all in this year, you know?
Of course, all this pottering never goes unnoticed. To be honest, it was still a struggle for me to carry even a bucket of water for bathing, so my daughter would sometimes whisk me into town for a break. In summer she even sent me off to spend a month at a seaside retreat to recuperate.
Finally, when I was feeling myself again, I came home, headed out into the garden, and was surprised to see that our wooden fence was broken and not just a little. It was smashed just enough that someone could easily step through to my veg patch from my neighbours side.
It was obvious my neighbour had been helping himself: using my greenhouses, my water butts, and even a few of my garden beds. Not even a text or call to ask if it was all right. He absolutely couldve hes got my number.
I wasnt happy, of course. So, I went over and asked him about the fence. He admitted it was just more convenient to nip through, and hed made use of my greenhouses and veg beds. I didnt hide my annoyance, and he just sort of shrugged it off. I told him I wasnt comfortable with anyone wandering into my patch without permission.
I asked him to repair that bit of fence properly, too. And then, just to make a bit of a point, I suggested he share some of his harvest with me. Not that I really needed a bucket of cucumbers I just felt he could do with learning a little lesson about respect for other peoples gardens.
