Read Dr. Tanya Byron's NEW report on Children and Television, her advice on how to provide a balanced TV diet for your children in the Freeview Viewtrition Guide and enter our competition to win a top of the range Freeview+ digital TV recorder, worth £229.95
If she comes knocking on your door again, strip off all your clothes and answer the door with a sigh and a hand on the hip and say ‘Please tell me your not here to inform me I’m not allowed to walk around my house naked?’ You’ll never see her again.
I’ve done some very devious things to pissy neighbours 9and companies that weren’t willing to compromise). My mantra is “I’m an artist; I can take this places”.
Well currently I am line drying but in winter I hang DH's shirts on coathangers in the window of the spare room (happens to be at the front) to dry. makes them easier to iron than draped over a clothes horse.
We have loads of rules in our deeds - no sky dishes at the front, no changing planting at front, no keeping poultry, no parking vans or caravans on drives, no hanging washing at the front. etc Nearly everyone has broken them in one way or another. We have done the planting one mainly because I didn't want my garden to look like B&Q car park in terms of landscaping, and the tree died because the crappy builders planted it on top of a load of rubble.
We are the top two floors of a four storey georgian building, so yes some washing is in the living room, I can bear looking at it. The rest is in my bedroom and the spare berdoom window. None in the DC room at the back as they'd no doubt pull it down and piss on it.
Although it's no doubt dry now, I should take it down, lazy slattern I am.
TDWP although i don't like interfering neighbours and may be barking up the wrong tree here but are you hanging your washing in your sitting room where you have to look at it too?
couldn't stand that myself - if so put it upstairs (in the front) to piss her off or in back room where you don't have to look at it.
A RL Hyacinth Bouquet!!! Wow. This is fascinating. Faffed over washing in the front window, how very 1970's. Does she have a DH called Richard and a DS called Sheridan?!?!
We are having the bathroom replaced and have had the old one ripped out, so just today we have an elderly toilet - yes !! - sitting in the front garden.
Now im not a person who likes confrontation, but I am a tad childishly defiant.
I'd have hung my grubbiest smalls in the window, with a dirty blanket behind them (sagging in the middle of course), and a nice lamp with a red sarong draped over it.
you have a lovely accent even though you're a northerner???
no wonder london has a reputation for being a bunch of miserable gits who don't even know there neighbours (other than to ask them to take their washing down)!
about the gimp suit? Yes. I have no idea what one is. Gimp used to be used in the US as a term for disabled person. About the Stepford Wives of Virginia? Yes indeedy. We were asked to cut our grass too and keep our paint fresh.
when I lived in the US I got myself a washing line and hung washing up outside. Cue neighbourhood commitee coming round to tell me it just wasn't 'done' and I should get a dryer. Told them to show me where the law was and to feck off.
Squeaver I am fab, I went for the whole weekend. Spent too much time chatting and almost missed madonna so just caught the last bit of her set (but from vip ring). Glad I went, seeing her is one of my list of things to do before I die, and this saved me a £150 concert ticket, lol.
The moon - a village near to me actually has a bylaw to prevent washing being hung out on a sunday - what happens if you live in this village and break the bylaw I have no idea?
My ex bf (long time ago) lived on a ponce tastic street in Hampstead ( his parents house)
beautiful georgian houses all painted ice cream colours.
anyway, one of the poncey neighbours confided in me that she could not bear the man next door as "he was so bourgeois- he cleaned his car on a Sunday. "
As I said the fact we have to have unniform facades on our houses, even ask what colour we can paint our ralings/front doors pisses me off, but this is too much. Why do so many people want sterile homgenous looks on streets.
It's only a matter of time before England turns into one giant Barrats estate.
open your windows (without moving the clothes) and blare out the collected works of the Macc Lads all together now "Well she wore big knickers and sh worked on't' sewage faaaaarm, got me 'and down 'er jeans and nearly lost 'alf me aaaarm...." didn't know you were northern.........wanker.
i think you are being a little bit unreasonable. some neighbours who rent in the same street hang their towels over the railings on their front windows, it looks awful. dh has had a word and it does lower the tone of the area.
TDWP - I'm afraid I've just had to laugh out loud at this! I just can't believe someone would A) feel the need to say something and B) be quite so rubbish and awkward at saying it! I hope that you find out juicy gossip with a little 'Neighbourhood Watch'!
The house doesn't seem to be for sale so I doubt it, plus I'm not pandering to her. My dress is dry at least so I'm now wearing it, the stuff upstairs is staying there.
DWP - print some St Georges flag symbols off the internet and pin up in every window....not the same as a flag but should still have the same effect....
I would also have a VOTE BNP poster for added effect...but then I am a sh*t stirrer
Say to her that you need the clothes all dry today, so if she really doesnt want them in the wondow then can she take them in and tumble them for you? She could iron them as well while shes at it lol
gggirl that's the best plan, and age it with tea so it looks like it's been there for ages. Might rope lovely elderly neighbour in too (she's got a great sense of humour)
Although slight flaw, no flags and nowhere to get any.
Moronic bint. I'd go and buy some huge y-fronts from a charity shop, cut a few holes in them and hang them up in your window. Or as MP said, a gimp suit- but not pvc, or it'd melt.
I am indeed remebering our flat in an alley in paris where we had a communal washing line between our windows that we could draw in and out. It added to the character of the place.
Same all over continental Europe.
I'm annoyed enough she was probably one of the ones who refused to let us paint the facade an interesting colour, seaside style. Why not? they are all now a tasteful off white.
I can remember when we lived in a flat and had a washer/dryer that was so crap at drying. Ended up putting our big sofa throw over the living room window to dry it. Old bat downstairs told me 'oh dear, we just don't do that around here. It really ruins the look of the building'
She also bollocked me for feeding the neigbours cat outside in the COMMUNAL garden 'oh but we don't want to encourage them do we dear'
Sorry but I do think that hanging your washing at a front window does look slightly scuzzy - but in saying that I wouldn't say that to my neighbour if they did it. Not that big a deal. Lots of my enighbours do it at back windows - but presume yours is a direction of sun issue.
Your neighbour does sound very rude and slightly stupid if she thinks saying it in that way would make you want to pander to her.
can you find someone to very quickly deposit a car (preferably without wheels) in your front garden? If you don't have a front garden, it will work almost as well on the road in front of your house... or even better, in front of her house
Know what? My neighbours, across the road, have got clothes hanging up in the window, in the sun. I would not dream of asking them to take them down. I am rather confused by this woman's attitude. I am not advocating neighbourly war, but I would NOT take them down if in your situation.
It's a lovely georgian terrace, we are on the top two floors, neighbours on bottom two. Our next door neighour is an old lady with yellowing net curtains in every window. I hope she doesn't get complaints!
lol,your not alone. I am guiltly of the window hanging sinario too! Not at the front but on the curtain pole of my patio door at the back. Everyone can see it all though as my front window is opersite it, so people look right through, if you know what I mean.
What you need is a couple of discarded shopping trolleys and a pile of old tyres burning nicely out the front. Hasn't the old bint ever heard of "shabby chic"? Damien Hirst would probably offer you a fortune for your windows.
It's so annoyingly uptight here. We have to have commities to decide what colour we paint our facades and are not allowed to have bins visible from the street. Suits my DH, but not what I'm used to.
This is hilarious!What kind of washing is it? tops. Why not swap them for lots of kinky underwear and socks and hang that in the window. Should get her visitors talking! How dare she complain about what you do in your own house. Oh yes and get some really loud music going as soon as they arrive. Wish i had someone like that around my area, i would have so much fun as my sister in law knows lots of Hells Angel bikers, we could invite them round for a BBQ...lol
After the 'house is full of squatters' I really wish my eclectic bunch of friends could come round, crank up the music and show her what a house full of squatters would really look like.
Ooh and we could call the police on ourselves, just as her guests arrive!
I rarely do it, I just have few nice summer clothes, and even need one dress in particular dry before I can go out today (unless I go out in jeans, melt).
The people opposite put clothes in their window, I hate it but would never knock on the door and tell them that I think it looks really bad as that is my opinion and its their house and windows and their choice to have it looking how they want.
I may well do things to my house that they don't like but would not want to be told - your ornament looks really tacky in the front window - probably does but hay ho
Why should she take them down ? Bloody hell, this is inner London, not Frinton-on-Sea! You live near me TDWP I think (if you shop at the O2 centre) and there are far too many people around here like that. I had someone complain that my car was scruffy once!
I wouldnt, frankly she sounds like the type of neighbour who wouldnt help you out anyway, especially now she knows your a northerner! If she is going to let a bit of washing hanging in the window bother her then tbh thats her problem not yours!
oh she sounds like a right cow, no doubt about it. She lacks basic social graces and a bit of plain common sense. The thing is she could have come over looking all embarrassed about it and said, "look I'm really sorry to ask you this but could you do me a huge favour and not have the washing up in your windows today because the dh's boss is coming around" or whatever it is etc and she would have seemed more human.
As it is she tried to make you feel bad and just got your back up. But now after she asked you, if you don't take the things down, how do you think she is going to behave towards you in the future? It isn't a huge amount of skin of your nose to take them down and you might need her help one day, who knows? So you know for the sake of peace, I would just do it this time.
I've barely seen her before. I have brilliant neighbours either side and downstairs (after our previous nightmare neighbours) and they haven't said anything.
sssandytwo, really? I want my clothes dry and thinking about it, screw her and her snobby attitude. She obviously thinks as we are in a 'good' area we all get our washing 'sent out.
ahh little further south than me - I'm from Cleveland (or North Yorkshire as my dad calls it, he still refuses to recognise Cleveland as a county LOL).
Read Dr. Tanya Byron's NEW report on Children and Television, her advice on how to provide a balanced TV diet for your children in the Freeview Viewtrition Guide and enter our competition to win a top of the range Freeview+ digital TV recorder, worth £229.95
