What's that? I want the g.d. harassment to stop. My neighbour down the way is still irked about the way the Dominion Hill issue went. Obviously. It's not even THEIR issue, but it's her brother's. Ah well. They do say that blood is thicker than water. Apparently other things are also thick.
I've been sick with a lovely flu bug for the past 3 weeks, and have been doing small perambulations with the dogs whenever the weather permits. Usually a 15 - 20 minute walk, down the road, down and around the trail, maybe as far as the beach, then back up and around on our hillside. The other morning, after sending the Mook to school, I decided to walk the dogs. I paused briefly at the neighbour's place to pat their dog. He wears a shock collar, so is unable to go as far as the end of the driveway, so I walked about 4 feet up the driveway to visit with him. He was happy and wriggling his entire body as only a border collie can. Suddenly the neighbour's voice boomed out, "Do you MIND getting of my PROPERTY?!" I paused in my patting of the dog and said, "Sure." (not happy about that, because the dog looks lonely and unloved.) Then he went on with, "No PSYCHOS allowed!" ... um... huh?
My first thought was, "Well, YOU'RE sure in the wrong house." The second was, "Ooooh... He's learned a new word!" ...
What a slack-jawed putz! Seriously! Other people stop off to pat the dog all the time. I've seen them! He's never yelled at any of them to get off his property. AAAgh!
Psycho? I'm not a psycho! I may be crazy, but I'm NOT a psycho!
Anyway... my day proceeded along its merry way with no other problems. I fetched the Mook home from school at 3, and decided that since the sun was out, I'd go for another little walk.
As I approached the end of the street, I noticed the missus standing outside. With a camera! She's pointing it at me, and I suppose she's taking pictures of me walking down the road with my *gasp* off-leash dogs!!! I continued my walk, ignoring her the entire time. (I thought I did very well... I didn't stick my tongue out, nor did I shoot her the finger.) I was wearing my sunglasses, so she couldn't tell if I was looking at her or not. She stood there, camera to her face, until I finally turned the corner.
I'm waiting to hear from the Animal Control guy (it's a new one again) to tell me that there's a leash law in town. I'll smile and nod. Agree that there's a leash law. But you know something? My dogs are actually very well behaved and typically don't wander more than 8 feet away from me. If I'm on a main street, they're on a leash.
However, Moore's Valley is a dead end street with a grand total of 5 houses on it. 4 on one side, ours on the other. We own 3 acres, and that encompasses a pretty huge chunk of frontage. From our fence line, down the road, and then down the trail, it takes @ 2 minutes to stroll back to our hillside property. Speed limit is 30 kph. (the only people who go faster are the odious neighbours themselves.)
I've also seen a ton of people walking their dogs on the trail. Off leash! Do I have to start taking pictures of them? I sure don't want to... I like the idea of letting my dogs get a bunch of exercise while I enjoy the great outdoors. I think well-behaved and under-control dogs should be allowed their freedom on the trails.
But you know, I can't help but wonder when these people are going to step over the line into actual harassment. I mean, they've already written a letter to the town indicating their displeasure with the idea of me running a home office in the form of a pet portrait business. Yes, really. She wrote that she's concerned about all the traffic my tiny (mostly online) business will bring to the neighbourhood. She also tried to get me in trouble by pointing out that we're already known to be running a B&B in our home. (No... we don't.)
She talked about how we had 4 vehicles, only have 2 now, but when my son comes to visit there's 4 cars. AND since we have the B&B, our guests are vying for parking. She mentioned that people park half on the street, half on the boulevard. There's no sidewalk here so our cars come straight out onto the street. (huh? How's that relevant?) ... well, her math is skewed, (2 + 1 = 3). Strange for a teacher, you think? AND, take a look around at ANY house in town when there's a party going on. EVERYBODY parks on the side of the street. *grumble* ...
The town granted me my business license, but they indicated that they will be keeping an eye on our parking lest it become a problem. Believe you me, the next time they have a party down the way and somebody parks on the street, I shall be photographing their g.d. licence plates and reporting THEM to the "proper authorities." *grumble grumble*
It isn't going to accomplish anything. We're not leaving. Like it or not, we live here, dammit. Sure, they're getting under my skin, but I don't let THEM know that! So why? Why? Hmm???
End of rant. Thanks for listening. Again.
Let's not forget to take pictures when the church up the way has an event, be it a funeral or a wedding. They don't have sufficient parking and so there's always cars parked on both sides of the road, nearly all the way down to our place! I don't imagine anybody's ever reported THAT to the "proper authorities."
ReplyDeleteOkay... I'm done now. Really.