It's starting to bug me (NN story)

[AuntyEm]

That would completely bug me too having a tarp hanging off my fence for anything other than a temporary repair and I would not have been able to go more than 1 day before saying something like "Hi, what's going on with that tarp on my fence? Are you in the middle of a project?"   

But...I would be equally annoyed at you hanging towels or rugs on the fence and having them flap around on my side--don't do that.

My neighbor once decided that he would store his paint roller on the top of the metal post on the fence between our backyards.  That lasted about 30 seconds after I saw it, snatched it down and tossed it into his back yard.  But I also "accidently" snipped the wire to his christmas lights still hanging on the bush right next to my front door in March.  Oops! We actually got along fine.

[JeanFromBNA]

I would not throw the tarp on her side of the fence.  IMO, that's escalating.

I would take down the tarp, fold it to the extent possible, and place it next to her front door with a weight on it of some kind.  Without comment, without a note, without any other action.  In other words, quietly.

Each time the tarp goes back up, you take the same action again.

I think that this is the approach to take.  Polite but firm.  If she asks why, you can tell her it was discoloring the fence (which you may very well find when you take it down).

I'd wait until it was dry, though, because folding a wet tarp is nasty.

[sammycat]

She's rude and annoying and when anyone complains she goes all bratty on top of it? I think you've been as nice and accommodating to her as you could be. If she can't even try to show you the same level of neighborly respect I'd be done with her.

Exactly!

She was completely in the wrong over the noise issue yet is trying to make out that your family is the one who are the wrongdoers, instead of the victims. She's got some cajones. It was irrelevant who actually asked her to turn the noise down. The fact that it even needed to be done in the first place paints her in a bad light.

She seems extremely entitled and I've no idea why you'd even bother trying to be friendly with her.

[War_Doc]

Aunty Em, retalitory rudeness is never the correct solution.  If you had a problem with your neighbor, you should have talked to them instead of the more "drastic" approach you chose.

[EmmaJ.]

Just wondering if the OP has decided on a course of action?

[jpcher]

Just wondering if the OP has decided on a course of action?

Yes, I've decided what to do.

No, I haven't taken any action yet.

With the rain and the drastically falling temperatures that tarp is pretty much frozen solid. (I did physically check on that . . . it's stiff as a board.) So the timing is just bad. There's really not much she can do about it now.

I wanted to talk to her about it yesterday (after WillyNilly's post) but her house is dark with no car in the driveway, both yesterday and today.

We're suppose to have a warming trend next week, so maybe the tarp will thaw out. Next time I see her car in the driveway I will approach her and mention the wood-rot damage to the fence and ask her to remove the tarp.


I'll keep you posted.