Good neighbor gone bad...

I have a very pleasant neighbor who lives across the street from me. She has paid me well to cover every square inch of concrete outside her home with terra cotta tile and is always friendly and never complains about project cars or "airbag deployment day". She has spent well over $50k with other contractors and landscapers to turn an eyesore yard into something amazing. She even sent her landscapers across the street to my yard to build a flowerbed around her mailbox, which shares a post with my mailbox. (It doesn't match my landscaping, but it's a helluva improvement over the overgrown tigerlillies) Unfortunately she is a cat hoarder. I'm not talking about the run of the mill crazy cat lady with 10 kittes, but full on Grey Gardens: 21 cats, 3 dogs and some rabbits too. Certain days, when the wind is blowing right, it smells like I'm running a meth lab in my garage (which is 250ft from her house.) She also parks her car in my parking area in my adjoining lot 3 days a week (where I always park a car t.o keep from blocking my garage....This is 25 feet from the road in a turnout off of my driveway) I looked the other way when she buried her Pacifica to the floorpans close to the street in front of my house. I filled the ditches and planted new grass, I just said "Berk it, it was mostly weeds mowed to the same height." But today I come home from working out of town to find a 6 foot high pile of limbs and brush sitting in my yard that is 90 feet long. Fortunately they left an opening wide enough for cars to pass in and out of my driveway.
Granted, I don't have $15,000 worth on sod in my yard, but the city "crane game operators" take chunks of grass, when removing brush, big enough to see from the international space station. I'd probably look the other way like usual, but i'm having a cookout tomorrow and there is a huge pile of E36M3 lining the road directly in front of my house.

As the Manhattans do their work, I have decided not to park "Valdez the leaky $240 Volvo" on her $10,000 Belgard paver driveway, but I am faced with the question of what should I do?

She is a genuinely well intentioned person doing E36M3ty stuff due to the fact that is batE36M3 crazy and out of touch with societal norms. I don't want to make her cry, I'd just apologize, give her a hug and she would end up trying to give me a berking cat.

But, WWGRM do?

I hear arson goes over well this time of year.......

If it were me, I'd move the pile across the street to her side.......I do it all the time when neighboring farmers leave piles of fence/trees/brush on our side of the line.......I'll fire up the Massey and shove it all over to theirs.

Cat traps, relocate the problem at night.

You could have a 90 foot long bonfire at your cookout.

edit: yamaha beat me to it.

It would take an MF or at least a Bobcat to move that pile in less than half a day. Unfortunately I live close to downtown and diesel powered equipment is overkill for a half acre lot, however that never stopped me from buying the most powerful commercial backpack leafblower.

ll the cats live inside, except one that lives in the Pacifica, so it smells like catE36M3 too.

Anonymous call to animal control when the stink is on max. Start here and see what happens. Maybe her car gets a flat every time it parks in your driveway, or doesn't start. How long have you been neighbors? Has the nutty stuff started recently or always been there?

Just have all your guests park on her pavers. Make sure you have plenty of marshmellows, for the big-ass bonfire after the bbq. Won't solve the cat problem, but it would be fun.

I would have a 90 foot long cookout.

Your having a cookout tomorrow, so the brush will be there. So be it. Otherwise a nice neighbor, enjoy that and keep it a nice relationship.

Later, after the cookout, figure out what to do with the brush. And maybe gently talk with her about some better arrangements with regards to some things.

EastCoastMojo wrote: Just have all your guests park on her pavers. Make sure you have plenty of marshmellows, for the big-ass bonfire after the bbq. Won't solve the cat problem, but it would be fun.

well... it might ...depending on how many you could catch while the fire was going .... disclaimer: I actually like cats (sorta)

::Disclaimer:: I like animals and would never condone anything to hurt them. The following is a joke..a sick one, but still a joke!

How do you make a cat go woof?

Douse it in gasoline and lite a match. WOOF!

I have sorta been here with this one. Friend of mine, who does not drive, was dating a girl who's parents were cat hoarders. I think she gave up counting at 50ish because she could not keep track of the ones she had already counted. They lived in a rowhome in Atlantic City.

I picked him up from her parent's place once, in february. It was 20 degrees out and I was standing at the kerb and all I could smell was cat. It was overpowering. I could not imagine what their neighbors went through.

I drove him home with the airconditioning running full blast and shivering my ass off because the moment he got in the car, my sinuses filled.

Can you elaborate? There's a pile of branches in your yard, but it doesn't say where they came from. You then mention city crane operators - are you saying she cut them down and piled them in your yard for the city to pick up? And then she buried her car in your front yard?

Sorry Stuart, the branches came from trees she had trimmed in her backyard. Yes, she had them cut down for the city to remove from my yard. The sinking of the Pacifica was a totally separate incident. She was backing down my driveway in the snow, turned too early and missed the road and got stuck in my yard. The tow truck driver pulled it out doing as much damage as possible. He even managed to pop her tire off the bead as he drug it across my asphalt driveway in park with the E-brake set....sideways.

Okay, that is pretty weird to haul all the branches over to your yard instead of just piling them up in front of hers.

I disagree with your statement that she is a good neighbor. She sounds like an inconsiderate shiny happy person.

I would let her know.

I don't think she's an shiny happy person, more like mentally incapacitated. I agree with Foxtrapper, why make an enemy when you've had a good relationship before? It's worth trying to handle it delicately – ask her to call someone to take it away (sounds like she can afford it) because you've got guests coming. She probably doesn't even realize she did something wrong.

Lesley wrote: I don't think she's an shiny happy person, more like mentally incapacitated. I agree with Foxtrapper, why make an enemy when you've had a good relationship before? It's worth trying to handle it delicately – ask her to call someone to take it away (sounds like she can afford it) because you've got guests coming. She probably doesn't even realize she did something wrong.

I agree, try this first, she was inconsiderate not a bitch... yet

I think you hit the nail on the head Lesley. We are dealing with a mental disorder. She is hording more than just animals, which is a sign of a much deeper condition. Thinking back, I have never seen a single visitor (other than contractors, animal control, codes enforcement and the police dept) in the 2 years she has lived there. I think I will wait till the city picks up the brush, see how bad the grass is ripped up and ask her to buy a trailer full of topsoil and some grass seed. She isn't the confrontational type and will likely write a check on the spot. Hopefully experiencing a little financial pain will use better consideration in the future.

WindsorD, your patience and considered responses to her actions do you credit. Keep trusting your gut.

Just think of the pile as an impromptu privacy fence for your rager of a fall BBQ

You sound like a great neighbour.

Lesley FTW. Road to hell & all that.

My neighbors always get drunk, flip their cars upside down in my driveway and leave. Then the Sherriff beats our door down at 3am.

And I tell him yeah, While I was asleep I bought a car parked it on the roof and put beer cans around it for decoration.

I hope everything gets resolved amicably.

I know it was bumped by a canoe, but I'll add this.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Cat_Lady_Syndrome

Latent T. gondii infection in humans has been associated with impaired psychomotor performance, enhanced risk-taking personality profiles, and higher incidence of automobile accidents. Moreover, correlations have been found between positive antibody titers to T. gondii and OCD, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, suicide in people with mood disorders, and bipolar disorder.