How do I handle a neighbour who blatantly ignores me. Most dog owners in our village meet at the same time every day on the park behind my gate, I love to drop in with them when I am not working but we have a lady who lives next door but one who suffers with mental health and alcoholism. When she drinks heavily, she goes in the garden and shouts and screams at the close neighbours to leave her alone and not to gossip about her -she uses awful language and makes horrendous threats. She has personally accused me of gossiping which I certainly haven’t and I tried to tell her this but she swore at me and now ignores me and blatantly walks off if I join in with the group when she is with them. They all know she has a problem but don’t hear her when she gets drunk and shouts in the garden. It is only us immediate neighbours that she dislikes I assume its because she knows we hear her when she has her crazy hour in her garden. I want to know what to do when she is chatting to the dog walkers and I want to join them, when she sees me coming she walks off and it makes me feel extremely humiliated, I have tried to broach the subject with a trusted member of the group but they said to just cut her some slack as she recently lost her dad, they know she’s a nuisance and that they are lucky they don’t have to live next door to her. I feel I shouldn’t try to make them take sides etc so don’t wish to say anything -any advise on how to handle the situation – should I just ignore her and not join in the chat if she’s around? But when I do that they want to know why I’ve not joined them! So difficult I am getting quite worried and wound up about this I feel I dare not go out anymore.