Good fences...make good neighbors

I am stealing this title from my friend over at 'Cross the Pond.  She recently posted a comical summary of her old and new neighbors.  I guess mine could be considered comical.  Being from the South I find it shockingly rude and thoughtless.  

I will start at February 2009.  We had just moved in and were figuring out how things work.  We placed several boxes out to be recycled.  Unknown to us the recycle people will not take the styrofoam which packaged the television.  Apparently they tossed it into the neighbor's front garden.  The neighbor promptly knocked on our door and asked Brent to kindly remove the styrofoam and dispose of it properly.  I kid you not.  

Fast forward to present time.  The following email was forwarded to me today from my landlord:

Subject:  rampant strangling ivy! From no 7

I  hope you and your family are well? We have another charming American family at no. 8.  

I am writing to ask whether you could very kindly instruct your gardeners to remove the ivy from your walnut tree. You kindly did that once before. They did an effective job, but it is clambering up high again and it would be a good time to check its growth.  

Best wishes

Patricia

Seriously?!?  I oversee and pay the costs of caring for the garden.  I could have saved a small fortune if the landlord covered this cost.  A truckload of illegal immigrants is substantially cheaper in the US apparently.  I see the woman on a frequent basis and her husband has my email address.  The rampant ivy looks exactly the same as it has at this point in the last two summers.  In both autumns the gardeners cut it back when they winterize. The tree and ivy are technically at no 9.  The growth of the ivy does not impact her or her garden in any way.  

This coming from a person who until very recently had a garden which was a complete eyesore.  And is now better only because they paved over the "grass".  I "kindly" suggest her time would be better spent keeping her cat in her garden and out of my flower beds and garden table where my family eats.    

Hope is not lost.  We are moving house in September.  May the new neighbors be an improvement over this one!