to be pissed off with neighbour mowing grass today

[BarefootMe]

I will probably be shot down for this. First really sunny day for months when we could enjoy our garden. We have grass and were sitting out for first time this year, enjoying late breakfast and the papers - utter bliss. Then next door neighbour started his very noisy ride-on mower. Their garden is much bigger than hours and it took nearly an hour of noise, petrol fumes etc. Then a peaceful break, and just relaxing again this afternoon when he started up again, and then produced another mower for the edges - more noise, more fumes.
For context we have had a really difficult time since last summer, very stressful and this was literally the first day we could really let go and relax without pressures to think about. Neighbour does not know that, but I am annoyed because it is inconsiderate. He works from home a lot of the time, and could have done this on a weekday. Very old fashioned probably, but I was brought up not to create any disturbance on a Sunday which was regarded as a day or rest when your neighbours deserved peace and quiet. For that reason, I never use a mower on a Sunday, or do other noisy building work, etc. Just needed to express my annoyance and regret at the return of tension so soon.

So when do you mow your lawn?? Presumably when your neighbour is working. I expect they find that annoying. You are being totally unreasonable

Maybe she does it on a Saturday.

Which, by the way, is totally inconsiderate, since I was brought up not to create any disturbance on a Saturday, which was regarded as a day or rest when your neighbours deserved peace and quiet.

The world and his wife, well all three neighbours, have mown the lawn today and so has DP, the guy who owns the field out the back has been mowing it with his tractor. I gave up trying to sleep at midday and have spent the rest of the day in the hammock in the garden, night shifts and nice weather do not make good bed partners but it is just one of the things we have to accept. There are worse things in life than grass cutting.

You can't expect your neighbour to know this was your first lovely Sunday. Maybe it was his/her first Sunday to use their ride on mower. If he'd done it all day, fair enough but he didn't. You really need to get some perspective. It's not 1956 anymore. I'd love it if it was but it isn't. My wearing a 1950's dress and drinking champagne so if you could turn the clock back that'd be great.
My kids are still screeching their heads off in the pool along with a stealthy stream of neighbouring children. They're having fun and all adjoining neighbours are getting free childcare so I'm pretty sure it's a win/win. Although I actually am cutting my grass with scissors. Just normal kitchen scissors. I should be getting the kids in, bathed and bed, iron uniforms etc etc etc etc etc but it's a lovely evening and I'm enjoying listening to the fun.

well right now I am having to endure a practice session by the piper and drummer a couple of streets away! I love a massed pipe band but endless bagpipe drills on a lovely sunny evening are somewhat irritating.

I cut my grass before dinner around 6pm tonight and nobody in the street was bothered

You wouldn't like it here. There appears to be an unwritten rule amongst the retired people in our road to make as much noise as possible in the early morning at weekends and Bank Holidays. I think they're getting their own back on younger people who probably do make more noise than them most of the time. Worst of all is the "Bonfire King" who starts a good fire at around 6.30am. Not noisy but it wakes me up in a panic in case the house is on fire.

I cut my grass before dinner around 6pm tonight and nobody in the street was bothered

How do you know? Maybe they're all complaining about you on internet forums right now.

I like these threads and their predictable ending.

AYBU to vent on MN when you're stressed?
Course not.
I hate to be reminded that I live next to people too

Dammit strikethrough fail

YABU

diegomadonna perhaps they are but thats okay i can take the criticism

My elderly next-door neighbour always mows at the weekend, I think because that is his habit from when he had a regular job during the week. It is a bit irritating, but then I mow my lawn and the kids screech around with nerf guns and sometimes our elderly dog would bark and he would state boldly he “never ever heard anything” from our garden, so I think it’s a case of give-and-take. If you have a special event on - a party or BBQ then you could always go round and ask him to avoid mowing just that afternoon,I think that’s perfectly reasonable.

You said in your post it was the first sunny day for a while which meant the grass was perfect for cutting. If a neighbour cutting their grass stops you relaxing your too stressed.

Yes, YABTU.

I spent the afternoon - as did many here - in the garden, mowing, pruning yanking. Part of the reason I did so was the fact that the arseholes "relaxing" in the garden 2 away from us had their music on full blast. After an hour of this, I thought we could do something useful rather than suffer Heart FM on 11. The CFs came round and asked us to stop it!

They got short shrift.

I would rather listen to mowers than radios. There is always someone at the weekend in my street blasting out a radio. Strangely never two sets though, it seems whoever gets in first with the radio wins the day.

i would far rather hear a lawn mower than blaring music and shrieking kids!

This ^^

In all fairness I understand where you’re coming from OP. You just want to enjoy a nice peaceful day in your back garden. And it is frustrating when you have people doing DIY or noisy garden work.

But unfortunately people will take the opportunity of nice weather to do these things. And you also have to think there may be days when you mow the lawn or do DIY, that maybe they were hoping for a quiet day and they had to listen to noise from your side of the fence. It works both ways.

But I do totally get your frustration. I love being able to sit outside and just hear the birds singing and relax and it is super annoying when people are making a racket and you can’t have that bit of peace and quiet. So I do get where you’re coming from, so I won’t say yabu for being frustrated, because you’re entitled to feel frustrated.

@BarefootMe
What concerns me is your comment about stress since last summer and today was the first time you could sit and relax.

Really? Do you mean as a couple or just generally? I have vast amounts of stress going on, and have for over 10 years but I have had to build coping strategies and time outs because I was crumbling under all the pressure.

My H didn't do this. We are divorcing. We are dealing with the stresses differently and whilst he thinks I am more affected, I am able to deal with it better because I have forced myself to incorporate these strategies. Constant stress made me feel unwell. Don't dismiss how debilitating it is.

Your mowing complaints aside, I hope things improve for you. You sound very agitated.

Our hateful neighbors would watch us and mow when we had bbq's. We used to put up fake party stuff the day before so they would mow the lawn on the wrong day.

They really did mow the lawn to torment us. They were the same people who could make it out of their house and back in with my dc's ball before dc could get around the fence.

Yes, I can remember when mowing was frowned upon on a Sunday, also, bonfires only after 5.00 pm or there abouts. That was a different era, the world has changed and busy people, living busy lives, do their chores when they can. However annoying for you, it could have been worse, a noisy, smelly barbecue. To me, mowing a lawn is a summer sound and I can live with it, if not all day long. Hope you found some peace on the bank holiday.

I've never had this problem. Most of my neighbours have contractors who mow their lawns and as I work full time I never hear them because they always mow during the week.

My DSis however, had a neighbour who started mowing every Saturday morning at 8 am. He has a huge block of land plus nature strips. It took him forever. Then on Sunday he would do the edges with the whipper snipper.

It drove her nuts as she worked full time and would have a appreciated a bit of a sleep in on the weekend.

Unfortunately he passed away a couple of years ago and his wife now has a contractor who does the mowing during the week.

Her neighbour was a lovely man and Dsis does feel a bit guilty appreciating the fact that now she can have a relaxing sleep in on the weekend.

Blimey., neighbours mowing the lawn would be a luxury in my ‘quiet’ village, where, as soon as the sun shines, out come the mowers, strimmers, power tools, workmen with radios blasting horrible pop, power washers, children yelling, dogs barking, teenagers revving souped up engines and then, for the evenings, the impromptu barbecue with sixty drunken revellers and amplified music.

I would enjoy silence but there is no way it ever happens.

YABU. You suck it up when your neighbours mow the lawn and have a BBQ and they do the same when you do it.

There is always someone at the weekend in my street blasting out a radio. Strangely never two sets though, it seems whoever gets in first with the radio wins the day.

I wish! I was working outside on Saturday and had the radio on in a downstairs room and the window open - it wasn't loud (I checked by walking into the street). NDN - who can see into the top of my driveway - spotted what I'd done and simply went into her garden and turned her music up very loudly. I switched the radio off as there's no point in trying to get into tit for tat! She's otherwise very nice so it's not worth falling out over. She doesn't play music outside that often so I can live with it.

I agree with @PetulantPolecat on this one
I feel your pain OP! I’d be pissed off too 😂