Mums the Word

Fall came to Minnesota in a wave of late summer beauty. I love this time on the cusp of summer and autumn, before the leaves turn, before the temperatures stop dropping, and there is still a warm in the breeze.

I used this gorgeous day to go out to the nursery and buy mums plus small and big pumpkins to begin decorating the outside of my home.

That done, I grabbed the chainsaw from the garage, which I’m not allowed to use alone, according to Joe. I might cut off a foot or something.

I might, but I was careful.

I have all this buckthorn along the fence and now that the daylilies have died off, the buckthorn is visible and easy to massacre.

I used that chainsaw on that buckthorn just like Jason (I think that was his name) did on unsuspecting teens.

And I still have all my toes.

Whew!

ABC’s 20/20 had a show on Friday night about neighbors from hell. Ha-ha.

One guy bulldozed his neighbor’s house and truck and the power lines.

One was about a woman in Minnesota who harassed her neighbors for years by posting signs on her garage with notes about her neighbor’s sobriety. She did strip teases during the neighbors’ kid birthday parties, along with tons of other nasty stuff. She ended up getting a restraining order to stay away from her home for a year. She lost her job, now her home is in foreclosure; she’s been in jail for her harassment, and still tries to harass those neighbors!

Another story was about a guy who kept shooting a laser beam into his neighbor’s house.

Yes, I still have my drug dealin’ neighbors. At least a week or so, I get some harassing thing from them. A few weeks ago, Joe and I were painting the trim on the garage and they started blasting music at us. We just ignored them. They’re like kids, they want a reaction. But it was so loud, that the neighbor on their other side told them to turn it down or off. They turned it off.

Earlier this summer, one of their kids followed me while I was walking the dogs. He was on his bike and he took these long loops around me as I was walking. When I got home, I called the police, and they talked to the kid. I haven’t had any problems walking the dogs since.

Joe and I are thinking about getting those dropcams to see if we can capture any of their illicit drug activity. Calling the police about that has netted nothing, but that’s to be expected. A drug transaction takes seconds and leaves no evidence behind.
I would do anything if they would move out. Whenever I’m home, it’s like an armed camp.

But it’s fall, and we usually get nice long ones. We’re supposed to have good color this year. In a couple of weeks I’ll go to the apple orchard. Yes, it’s a great time of the year.