You cannot pick your neighbors. Well, unless you buy a house for your kids right next door. But that could be a recipe for disaster. We have been blessed with great neighbors not only here but at our last few houses as well. But that is not the case everywhere. Upon returning from our Great Summer Adventure, we were told of several instances where neighbors were less than great.
The first, actually involves three neighbors in Kevin and Cheryl's neighborhood. We will call them neighbor A, B and C. They all live in a row. Neighbor A has something like 15 acres, neighbor B, 5 acres and neighbor C probably 10 acres. You would think that is enough room to leave each other alone and live a peaceful life right? Well, neighbor A builds this house whose view is right at neighbor B who parked a travel trailer in the middle of his property. "A" does not want to see "B's" trailer so she builds a 12-14' high wooden fence for a hundred yards or so right along her property line. I mean this thing might fit in in a suburban neighborhood but not here in the hills. I swear you would have thought it was a billboard. The association gets involved and the fence comes down.
Then neighbor C sees B installing a septic system and calls the county on him. Only to find out the guy is licensed to install his own system. Now none of them are talking to each other. I doubt those three will be getting together on holidays!
Not to be outdone, right here in our own neighborhood there are bullets zipping and whizzing over houses due to in inconsiderate neighbor who is not using a proper backstop while shooting their rifles. When the owner of the house under fire asks them to please shoot in another direction he gets verbally assaulted by the neighbor who says they will shoot where they want. No invite to the neighborhood picnic for them! Our biggest fear is having neighbors like Onid and Asil with beer cans strewn across their property and the constant bickering and yelling for another beer, Thank God, we are blessed with great neighbors.
With a little more than a week behind us since we have returned to our South Dakota oasis, we could not be happier. The weeds we showed you last week are gone. Lots of pulling and tractor time. Next time we have to do some kind of pre-emergent spraying to try to keep them at bay.
In between the weeding we got together with friends to catch up and see what they have been up to the past few months. First up was Kevin, Cheryl, Dan and Bonnie. We got together with them on the Sunday night right after we got back. It was a crazy night which several of the group regretted the next morning, but it was so good to see them!
Next up was our neighbors Jim and Carmen who came over the next afternoon for a few hours. These Texas are loving the low humidity of the South Dakota summer.
My sister Judy from Wisconsin arrived last Thursday for a 4-day visit. She has not been out here since we lived here so it was nice to show her the house, property and some of the sights in the area. One beautiful area we went to was Mount Coolidge Lookout Tower in Custer State Park. This was a first for us too!
And bonus, she brought us some of our favorite clam Chowder she picked up in Florida!
On Friday night, we had a Prime Rib dinner that friends of Kevin's, Earl and Sharon, who are also visiting from Wisconsin brought out. Earl smoked it all day and it was incredible!
Besides seeing us, Judy came out to see our niece Alana who recently moved to Spearfish. On Saturday Alana was having a family reunion of sorts as her mom and dad (my sister Rebecca) came out from Minnesota, her sister Tess and husband James came up from Denver and her brother Marshall flew over from Paris so they could all be in one place. A first in years. Judy, Barb and I crashed their party as we had not seen some of them in over 15 years.
 |
| Murray, sister Judy, Marshall and Alana |
 |
| James, Tess and sister Becky |
He worked him in the round pen for a while before putting the saddle on. Then worked him some more with the saddle on and then got on him. Wylan was an angel and performed just as he should have. No show for us but we are very happy for Kevin.
In between visits I have been working on getting the garage prepped for the last concrete pour. I have all the rebar set and this section is 14'x32' and is scheduled for early next week.
I also cut and jackhammered out a 3x3 section around the drain in the garage as I was not happy with the slope into the drain, so we are going to redo that. A pain but I would rather have it right than live with it.
Whew! The week went really fast, and I am getting tired again from writing everything we did. I plan to hit it hard the next couple weeks with a list of projects that we have prioritized for good weather. It looks like the next two weeks will be perfect for those. Fingers crossed I have the ambition to get them done!
Wow, those neighbourhood stories are fitting for a TV show. Of course you guys would have nice neighbours, how could you not and they are now your friends. You don't sit still by the looks of the projects you already finished since your return. Looking forward to what you have planned.
ReplyDeleteSitting still is not in our vocabulary. I have a big project planned for the coming week, wish me luck!
DeleteEvery floor drain I ever had turn out to be the high spot in the floor. Good luck with your projects. Vern Boise Id.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that the way it works sometimes? Well this drain certainly won't be the right point when I am done with it!
DeleteFamily time is good...unless your family socks down the beers like Onid and Asil do! And what is with the bullets flying? That is more than being rude neighbors, in some parts of Arkansas they would be DEAD NEIGHBORS! lol
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of backwoods in Arkansas that a neighbor could get permanently lost in, never to be heard from again!
DeleteI can't imagine having that much land between neighbors, lol, as I've always been a city gal myself. We are usually the noisy neighbors with either the kids or the dog but thankfully everyone in our present neighborhood seem to get along (though I only know a few by name).
ReplyDeleteLooked like a lot of fun times with friends and family and whenever food is involved, that makes it even better! Such pretty area you live in. Thanks for those pictures :)
Good luck with getting your ambition to get the projects done! I bet you can do it!
betty
Of the 4 houses we have had, only one was in a neighborhood. Otherwise we have been quite a ways from our closest neighbors.
DeleteIt’s Gay…you guys! You need to bottle some of that energy and sell it!
ReplyDeleteLet's hope the energy level maintains so we can get more projects done!
DeleteHow awesome that the family could get together like that. Fifteen years is a long time not to be together, so I can imagine how great it must have been.
ReplyDeleteSpiteful neighbours must be so hard to live with, so I am glad you have nice ones. We have four neighbours bordering us and seldom see any of them - a perfect way to stay on good terms!
Have fun with your projects :)
Of everyone I saw, I would have recognized all but one. A person can change a lot in 15 years!
DeleteOur neighbors are the ones who worry about bullets flying over their heads when they get close to the SSUVFL. We have a saying. "Fences make good neighbors." I am glad you can work on "your" projects.
ReplyDeletePerhaps your neighbors are the ones the should put up a 12' wooden fence to stop the bullets from flying over their houses!
DeleteYou’ve been busy!
ReplyDeleteNeighbours can be a blessing or the opposite. The bullets flying around would be quite neighbourly…
I don't mind the bullets as long as they have a good backstop. Hopefully that is the last of it!
DeleteOh yes ... the neighbors from Hell. I have one of those. Trouble is if you report them, YOU end up with all the broken windows. Luckily you have beer loving friendly neighbors. Good luck on the floor drain.
ReplyDeleteGlad you have good neighbors! Glad the association got involved and made them tear down their fence! HAHA. We know what wood costs nowadays! Such a great time you've been having since you got home! Definitely will keep you young. Ken's jealous of all the concrete! :)
ReplyDeleteI am personally not a fan of associations. One of our land search requirements was no covenants and associations but it worked out in this case!
DeleteLooks like lots of fun times since you got back. I especially like Barb’s t-shirt. Is that from her favourite toy store or Newfoundland? 🤣
ReplyDeleteColibaba’s
How did you guess? She picked up few few other toys as well!
DeleteYou have the ambition, it’s the endurance! Somehow I know you’ll get it done!
ReplyDeleteNow that you mentioned it, out of our 4 homes, we had fabulous neighbors in one, two that we never really saw and our last place (the one with acreage) had psychos!!
I vaguely remember you telling us about your last neighbor. Weren't there guns and a sheriff's department involved?
DeleteSee? This is one of the reasons I hesitate to want to be a home owner again. If you're renting and you have terrible neighbors, you can just leave. If you own the place, you're stuck dealing with that crazy forever. And bullets flying over your home? That sh*t is crazy.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm glad to see you guys are home again, having too much fun with your friends, and getting ready to tackle alllll the projects. You guys never fail to impress with your energy and can-do attitude.
Ah, just think how boring life would be without a bullet or two flying overhead.
DeleteHopefully next week we will have more progress to show!
Bullets flying overhead call for a return volley with a small cannon. That will get the point across! Luckily our neighbors personally deliver flowers from their garden and cherries from their orchard.
ReplyDeleteIf only we had a small cannon, we could fill it with cherries and flowers to spread the love 💕!
DeleteGlad you have good neighbors. I guess I didn't think about there being neighborhoods there. I just figured you had a big piece of property in the middle of nowhere. Sounds like lots of catching up after being away with friends and family. Looking forward to your new projects. There appears to be some important photos missing!!! Just saying!!
ReplyDeleteI knew I was going to get grief for that and not from Harry! Next week, I promise!
DeleteWe too had good neighbors before going fulltime and our 2.5 acres are surrounded by quiet neighbors who also have acreage around them - so far, so good. Our friends in Oregon have nightmare neighbors with just a fence between them and it's exhausting just hearing about their issues :-( I like the cannon sending flowers :-)) Looks like you've had lots of fun gatherings your first week back. Nothing that requires a jack hammer sounds fun.
ReplyDeleteThe jack hammering was not too bad. My current project is much less pleasant but with time, I will get through it.
DeleteIts funny, one of our requirements is to always have a HOA to keep the neighbors in line! Then again, I live in a tin can mobil home with only 10 feet between my neighbor, but then again I walk across the street to the Ocean, so the tradeoff is worth it!!
ReplyDeleteWe were blessed with decent neighbors in VT, so far, we've never had too much trouble with neighbors at our place in TX. Hoping we'll have some good neighbors in TN. This year as we watched the planting in IL, we noticed some fields hadn't had everything tilled under, but it certainly didn't hurt those fields productions.
ReplyDeleteYour Tennessee property sounds amazing, hopefully your neighbors are as well!
Delete