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Original poster

Can anyone help me write a reply to my neighbours snotty letter ?

111 replies

mrspink27 · 17/10/2005 15:12

hope someone can come up with a few witty sentences to reply to a note my neighbour posted through the door yesterday.

Basically, we are the first house on our street and have 5 lots of neighbours boundarys along the garden fence. Most of these are older folk.
Along one side of our garden we have a hedge, conifer and laurel, which we cut regularly every year, without fail, both sides and the top. Our house is slightly higher than our neighbours as we are on a bit of a slope and therefore the hedge is higher on our neighbours side than ours, but if we cut it down much lower then it wouldnt act as a screen for us and the busy road in front of the neighbours houses.

Sorry if tmi!

Anyway, the gardener chap came last friday afternoon and made a start on the hedge. Unfortunately he could only stay 3 hours and then it started raining so he had to stop anyway. He will return in 10 days when he has another gap in his schedule (he is an off duty fireman.)

Yesterday we had a note put through our door which reads
"Dear neighbour, when I heard and saw you were having your hedge trimmed yesterday I had high hopes of seeing some sky from kitchen window once again. I hope it was rain stopped play and not that it was forgotten that a hedge has 2 sides and becomes quite threatening from this side. I sincerely hope to hear from you in the future."

Really want to write a witty note back... but wit escapes me...

What should i write???!!!

OP posts:
nailpolish · 17/10/2005 15:14

"get a life"

Tinker · 17/10/2005 15:14

Write back from the hedge's point of view. Sign it off Scary Hedge.

Original poster
mrspink27 · 17/10/2005 15:15

pmsl

OP posts:
nailpolish · 17/10/2005 15:16

why did she write a letter anyway and not just come around?

VERY snotty if you ask me

aloha · 17/10/2005 15:17

I don't think they mean to be that snotty. I think they are trying to be lighthearted, but are clearly worried that the hedge won't be trimmed further and it probably is quite high on their side.
Why not just drop round and say, yes, it was the rain, don't worry, he'll be back in about ten days.
No point starting a feud with the neighbours over nothing IMO.
You are clearly a reasonable person.

noddyholder · 17/10/2005 15:19

Agree there is really no point starting what could become a feud Go round and explain I'm sure they'll understand

dillydally · 17/10/2005 15:21

It sounds like a mans writing to me
"rain stopping play" and all that

Was the saw or hedge trimmer thingy electric? Can we we make it a health and safety debate and take the moral high ground here?

cupcakes · 17/10/2005 15:21

agree that it probably wasn't intended to be snotty. Best to go on the assumption anyway that it wasn't or else you could make a huge error of judgement!

Original poster
mrspink27 · 17/10/2005 15:26

Dont want to start a feud at all, already have one unreasonable set of neighbours who are terrified our dog is going to leap a 6ft fence and savage them while they are digging their potatoes! They want him to be muzzled while he is out in our garden! as if!!!

It just ps us off that we are good neighbours and that we always have the hedge trimmed, both sides, every year. She must be able to see that only half the hedge has been trimmed on the top! If we werent reasonable we would have gone round and said f off, we dont* have to cut your side, we do it because we are good neighbours! My dh says it is just people with too much time on their hands.

Forgot to also mention that within 30 seconds of the hadegecutter being powered up another neighbour (oap) stuck his head over the fence to ask will you be clearing up any bits that fall on our side? Which we always do!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHH!!

OP posts:
Original poster
mrspink27 · 17/10/2005 15:27

it was a petrol hedgecutter, about 6ft long, and the neighbour is an older lady.

OP posts:
nailpolish · 17/10/2005 15:28

lots of people too round here elderly with time on their hands

i would go round to her house, not write a letter

Carmenere · 17/10/2005 15:32

If I was you I would pick up a small bunch of flowers and drop them around with a note saying 'these are for your kitchen window sill to brighten it up until our gardener comes back on Tuesday (or whatever), so sorry for the inconvenience'. this would be my tactic because the neighbour will be incredibly embarrased and you will appear to be the considerate neighbour you are. Fwiw I would just ignore the other one.

DinoScareUs · 17/10/2005 15:33

PMSL at tinker's suggestion!

moondog · 17/10/2005 15:35

I'd right something jocular along the lines of having 'high hopes' that it was a missive from a paramour containing sweet nothingsbut......seeing as it wasn't you will get on with more mundane matters such as finishing off your hedge....

(Unless that will get him going!!)

Think it was meant to be jolly but I don't like notes. Then again,Brits don't do face to face well unless pissed do they??

buffytheharpsichordcarrier · 17/10/2005 16:00

definitely DON'T write. just go round and explain. note follows note follows note follows note.... face to face, big smiles from you, moral high ground is yours.
I would even be tempted to sasy how SURPRISED you were to get a note rather than a visit. (big smile) that should put her on the back foot.

Stilltrue · 17/10/2005 16:04

Oh dear Mrspink; for a moment I thought you were one half of the nice couple who bought our last house....and who therefore inherited our fusspot neighbours with too much time on their hands !
Carmenere has the right gracious idea imo if you want to live peaceably with these people.

PS It's really annoying isn't it when you really are trying to do the right thing

Original poster
mrspink27 · 17/10/2005 20:40

whats really annoying is that she would have been entirely justified if we hadnt cut her side, or waited 3 months to do anything, but it was only started on Friday... she didnt even wait till today to see if anything happened!

my dh was just saying how he agrees with all the polite and sensible sentiments on here... even though he doesnt feel like being polite and sensible and grown up!!!

OP posts:
Roobie · 17/10/2005 20:45

Oh gawd I hate sniffy little notes - I'd be tempted to just ignore it or maybe slip a reply back along the lines of "got your note, will be happy to explain in person if you ask"

CaptainCavemansMummy · 17/10/2005 20:47

I love Carmenere's suggestion, that's really polite but should also make them .

I would also be tempted to take a pair of binoculars, and offer him the loan of them so he can see his precious sky until the work is completed! (and obviously my skills in diplomacy need a little work!!)

milward · 17/10/2005 20:57

I'd ignore the note. you've made arrangements to complete the job - so no problem.

bobbybob · 17/10/2005 20:59

Do not write a note. These people are your neighbours, you can pop around and see them. You thought the note was(however witty) they will be just as annoyed with your note.

No point going to the trouble of trimming their side and picking up the debris etc. and then ruining the whole gesture with a tit for tat note war.

zippitippitoes · 17/10/2005 21:08

Go and say sorry we couldn't do the whole lot on x day it will be done

zippitippitoes · 17/10/2005 21:10

Also chances are they've said something to one of their (grown up) children who has got on a high horse and said write this

SoupDragon · 17/10/2005 21:12

Write a note with all the snotty, smart ar$ed remarks that you want to make and then rip it up, ignore the whole thing and finish the job when you would have done anyway.

TinyGang · 17/10/2005 21:27

'Dear neighbour, don't worry, hedge will be cut down to size again shortly, I too have high hopes....that you will follow suit.'

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