BBQ and my washing is out!

[user2567]

Sitting here quietly fuming!!! We leave on a housing development, houses are all very close with small garden.

My daughter is back from Uni, and off on holiday in a weeks time. The sun is shining so I urged her to get her washing in the machine and on the line today, which she has done. A line in the garden and a clothes airer are visibly out.

My neighbours had visitors arrive, another young family and they were serving them tea, coffee and biscuits while I was helping my daughter hang out her washing.

An or so later I am indoors and see smoke billowing across our garden. They are cooking in their bbq, which is right up against our fence and the smoke and cooking smells are engulfing my washing.

They have every right to have a bbq, that's not the issue, you just have to suck up the smoke and cooking smells as a consequence of where we live but honestly at any stage they could have let me know before that started and we could have taken the washing in! Now it will have to likely be re washed.

The neighbour has just sent a text message to say oh we are having a bbq and your washing is out. I've replied politely to say it's a bit late to tell me now, if I had known I would have taken it in before you started.

But I am fuming, a courtesy text or even a word over the fence when I was hanging it up would have saved a whole lot of inconvenience!

I think she only sent the text as I went to back door when I first saw the smoke and they may have seen my incredulous face!

Normally they are good neighbours but they do have noisy friends with yapping dogs, which we try to ignore but this has really pissed me off!

I think it's the size of the gardens that makes it an issue, new build postage stamps!

I wouldn't expect to know about a bbq in advance or any garden plans! Just a quick heads up if they saw me putting washing out and were planning to light the bbq right next to our shared fence.

To be fair, she did say she meant to tell me and got distracted and I've said no problem, don't worry. So it's all sorted amicably now.

People are so OTT about barbecues. We're having one later, I have washing on the line. I may or may not bring the washing in before we light it if I get round to it. It really isn't that affected by barbecue smoke.

It would never even cross my mind to pre warn my neighbours I'm having a bbq.
Mumsnet is another planet I swear.

It's summer FGS. My neighbours are lovely but I'd really rather NOT have to speak or WhatsApp with my them every single time some one is having a barbecue. Which is most of the time tbf. No one ever has to date but I'd hate for this to become the norm.

Why should I care about my neighbours washing?! I'm having a BBQ in my own yard i wont be bothered to tell all my neighbours about a BBQ or small starting up the fire pit because thats my business. The entitlement on mn is something else 🙄

Sounds bliss!!!

My dream is to live so rurally I don't have neighbours to annoy or to annoy me!

I’m in the “it would never occur to me to do so” camp and my neighbours never warn me when they’re having a bbq either. I think it’s far easier to assume vaguely warm or sunny day equals potential for neighbours to be having a bbq that day.

Conversely it's a nice day you can assume neighbours hang out their washing. You're a pretty rubbish neighbour if you just let your BBQ smoke blow on people's washing when you could take a minute from your day to warn them.

Why does it need re washing?

Totally unnecessary 🙄

Oh god, I have forgotten to take my washing in during my own BBQ. It wouldn't occur to me to warn the neighbours about BBQs and I wouldn't expect my neighbours to warn me about thiers. What a faff!

I hope for your sake OP that the neighbours just ignore your snippy comment, nothing worse than a neighbour fall out..

Why didn't you take it down? Perhaps they just didn't notice till the point they text you.

I'd honestly never heard of pre-warning people about bbqs until it was talked about on MN. I've never been warned!

On a sunny weekend day I think it's pretty standard for at least one close neighbour to be having a bbq.

Have you got a sprinkler to water your garden OP? If not get one. Very effective when NDNs are having a BBQ and the wind is blowing in their direction. See also bonfires of old tyres.

I am joking for the more po-faced MNetters

Conversely it's a nice day you can assume neighbours hang out their washing. You're a pretty rubbish neighbour if you just let your BBQ smoke blow on people's washing when you could take a minute from your day to warn them.

Who thinks people don't have BBQs in the summer though?

I just put my washing out first thing

My neighbours love a BBQ and often have one when my washing is on the line. My washing never seems to smell of BBQ.

In future send a text to all your neighbours barring them from BBQs whilst your washing is on the line.

YABVFU

This is AIBU OP any views expressed on here are not necessarily those of the person posting them.
If a neighbour had dared to light a cigarette in the garden the pitchforks would have been out .

If my neighbour came to the back door looking ‘incredulous’ that we had lit a barbecue on a sunny weekend without informing them first, I would think they had lost their marbles.

Honestly so glad I don’t live in a Mumsnet neighbourhood where we’re all supposed to alert each other whenever we go into the gardens or everyone spends the day seething and sending passive aggressive texts.

I had a moment on Father's Day. Seven o'clock in the evening we lit the bbq. My neighbours had clear gardens but other people nearby with gardens close to ours did have washing out. I didn't know what to do. Different street and I don't know them.

It genuinely would have never occurred to me to text my neighbours if I were having a BBQ.

I've replied politely to say it's a bit late to tell me now, if I had known I would have taken it in before you started.

this isn’t polite. They have every right to have a bbq. I wouldn’t be telling my neighbours and I’ve never had a neighbour warn me before a bbq.

You should've used a torch and morse code. So inconsiderate.

I think your reaction is a bit dramatic tbh. You're fuming? The smoke billowing? It's engulfing your washing? It's just a bbq! I doubt it will have any effect on your washing, calm down and enjoy your Sunday like your neighbours are enjoying theirs 😂

I couldn't get worked up about this.

It's just washing.

I've never notified my neighbours of an impending BBQ. Is this a thing?