Unwelcome Surprise

Despite our best efforts to do nothing this weekend, Trevor and I ended up spending most of our Saturday running errands and working outside in the heat. We started early and had finished mowing and trimming the yard by about 10:30, and were sitting on the deck contemplating our neighbors. More accurately, we were contemplating the cost effectiveness was erecting a sound proof barrier between our yards.

The fence between our yards is just not enough anymore, and we need something more. When Trevor originally built our deck, he abutted it against the existing 6 foot fence. This made the 6 foot fence more like a five foot fence from our perspective and our privacy was compromised. This was especially apparent when we had friends or family over and we spend time outside. So we bought 8 foot bamboo blinds to hang between the posts to cover the space between the top of the fence and the bottom of the roof.

This has been the arrangement since the cover for the deck was built, but the bamboo blinds are beginning to dry rot, and we felt it was time for a more permanent solution to the privacy issue. The blinds were an imperfect solution to begin with, but at least they hid from view the rusting cars, old bed springs, beer cans and overgrown grass in the neighboring yard. I wish I could take a picture to document how these people live. They have no one to blame but themselves, because when they moved in the yard was pristine. On the bright side, our yard (although pretty plain) looks fabulous in comparison!

Anyway, we decided to make a wall along the edge of the deck using 6 foot fencing, which would make it 6 feet tall from our perspective and about 7 feet from their side (since they would be standing on the ground). Of course, if they really wanted to look over the fence, they have lots of broken, rusted stuff lying around on which they could stand. If I sound bitter and cynical, it comes from having the police as constant companions since these people moved in. Breaking up screaming matches between the parents out on the front lawn, arresting the oldest son for vandalism...oh, the list goes on and on. The other day, the husband took a bat to the wife's car because (according to the accusations flying around the side yard), the phone bill was too high for his taste.

Yeah. Welcome to our world. Not to mention that they are free with the vulgarity, and hold to the belief that louder is better. I think that I might be in the running for world's worst neighbors, along with Alana.

So Trevor was outside taking down the outdoor fans he had mounted to keep the air circulating under the cover, and suddenly ran in the back door with a wild look on his face and breathing as though he had just run a marathon.

He had pulled the fan down and this was suddenly right in his face.

Except when he saw it in an up close and personal way it was crawling with red wasps. Just for perspective, that board on the bottom is 6 inches across.

Yeah.

When he was describing his degree of freak out, he said:

I went from zero to heebie-jeebie.

I probably would have just passed out and awakened to life threatening stings all over my body. I was amazed that he didn't get even one sting, and we spent the rest of the afternoon swatting them away and spraying them with poison because they kept looking for their nest.

(I tried to get a picture of the new wall, but the humidity is so high this morning that it keeps fogging my lens, and after about 47 attempts, I just gave up.)