It is not a typo in the title. It is a little deck. Let me back up a little bit. Hubby and I don't work so we are home most of the time. We are busy with our computers and hubby is working on composing his music but some of the time we like to people watch, not to be confused with being nosey. Well, sorta being nosey I guess.
We have nicknames for the neighbors. The younger couple directly across from us we call Mr and Mrs Sassy, after their dog's name. Sassy is a great dog, big but not intimidating and doesn't growl or charge at us like we're her next meal. Sassy's brother is the pet of the couple next door to the left of us. This couple we rarely see. Maybe they work nights. The times we have talked to him, he shared with us that his fiance lives there with him and they also have a male roommate. They all work and the dog is inside lots of the time. This particular couple we call The Newlyweds even though they aren't technically married yet.
Across from The Newlyweds is The Widower. His wife died a year ago and he is hardly there either. While she was alive, she posted a big sign on their front door telling everyone to stay away. Seriously. If his brother or any of his friends came by to see him, they had to stay outside, they were not allowed to be inside the house. And if they stayed too long or were having too good a time, she would stomp out the front door, slam the door, traipse over to the visitors and shout at them that it was time for them to leave. I always figured she must have had a medical problem. Maybe she was in pain. The other neighbors didn't know of a medical problem but the people who have lived here over thirty years say that she has always been like that.
Next door on the right side are the Old Folks. We get along great with them and they like us too. They are twenty years older than we are but we always have plenty to talk about with them. When they go out of town they ask us to keep an eye on their house and we have their cell number if we would need to contact them. They like to tease hubby about grilling food on the gas barbecue in the garage with snow drifts to get through to get to the garage.
Across from the Old Folks are the Yard Sale Queen and Her Slave (her husband). I'm not one to gossip so that is all I should say about them. I could write a whole post about them but it wouldn't be very nice.
When we sit in our back yard, the yard that connects to us is on the main street. Our house in on a cul-de-sac. The man who lives in the house that connects to our back yard is who we call Lonely Guy. He used to live two cul-de-sacs over with his family and he is now renting the house sorta behind us. We sit in our kitchen and through the bushes that are just growing in now we see him sitting on a lonely chair in his back yard. He works on his yard most of the time that he is there. He brought his kids there one time but haven't seen them since. He was doing such a good job clearing out the stray bushes and limbs that he continued on up the small hill to our part of the property and was eliminating the foliage that separates the two yards. Hubby went out and asked him not to clean it out so well that we wouldn't have privacy in our yard. Lonely Guy hadn't thought of that apparently, so he kept his digging and cutting and chain saw in his own yard after that. Nice guy, just really quiet (well, except for the chain saw). Today we were in our yard and saw Lonely Guy building a new little deck for his house out of wood. There was brand new wood there and he had the frame made and was working in his steady way. Lonely Guy isn't into the critters like we are. Hubby had mentioned to Lonely Guy that this area has been a sanctuary for some of the wild animals and that the large wood pieces and boulders at the far corner of Lonely Guy's yard was a home for four rabbits. Lonely Guy tore down the wood and removed all traces of the boulders and sanctuary for the rabbits so they are looking for a new home. It's like Lonely Guy is OCD about having his yard so tidy that he can't see past that aspect of having a yard. Anyway, we are enjoying watching Lonely Guy with his little deck.
64 comments:
Do you know how the Widower's wife met her end? I would even provide him with an alibi if necessary; I just wondered.
Little Deck is clearly OCD. His family probably couldn't stand him. I prefer rabbits myself.
Please do write a post about the Yard Sale Queen and her Slave. We'll never tell. Word. :)
hehehe, I love the fact that you have the run down on all the neighbours! I think you and my Mum would get along swimmingly - she even moved her sofa to get a better view out of her living room window ;0)
This was fun... I'm ready for more, especially yard sale queen. Like heartinsanfransisco, I won't tell and the chances of me blurting it out around her accidently are pretty slim ;-)
Yes, I agree, I think you are being a bit of a tease regarding Yard Sale Queen....???
Sx
I don't go outside much and don't have much scoop on mine. We've only lived in this house for 33 years and it takes me some time to get acquainted. I prefer to take it slow. I'll just enjoy yours, thanks.
It is a nice deck to enjoy the woods. For barbecue and stuff. Great for all the neighbours to gather and chat.
We have such names for our neighbours. I thought we were unusual in that - well, may be we are! Enjoyab le post.
it does not surprise me at all that you know all your neighbors like this...sucks for the rabbits...perhaps his life circumstances come from the same...hmm...
so a large part of his yard is now deck. for parties?
Sounds like Lonely Guy is just trying to keep busy!
Widower's wife - did she die or just disappear?
I am with the others - you really must spill the beans on Yard Sale Queen and Slave!
I always find it a little distressing when people obsessively clear every bit of animal shelter from their yards.
I know my next door neighbors by name, and their little boy comes over sometimes to "help" me work in the yard. Otherwise, it's just nicknames and guessing for me, too.
LOL@the neighbor nicknames! the MITM has a whole backstory he's conjured about about one of our neighbors based on just 2 very, very, very short conversations. not that i'm gossiping, but bless his heart, the man should just come out of retirement, wear his fatigues and demand we all salute! xoxoxox
That was an interesting read which must mean I'm quite a voyeur. We have a "lonely guy" in our neighborhood too. However, I couldn't fill a thimble with what I know about my neighbors--no contact at all. I think that is what people want when they move into this neighborhood. We are all weird--just in different ways.
heartinsanfrancisco, hello, my friend. That is exactly what hubby and I said. And then we felt terrible about it. Thank goodness the rabbit family comes to our yard every day several times.
Hi ED, you made me laugh out loud. I haven't moved the couch but only because it is in front of the front room window and if I sit sideways....
imbeingheldhostage, how are you? I'm glad you like our little neighborhood goings on. Maybe I will write more.
Scarlet my dear, yes it does seem to be a teaser, doesn't it????
Ms Anthropy, dang girl, 33 years in one house? I have moved at least 100 times in my life, so many that it is impossible to have all the addresses.
Ocean Girl, I wish you could come and have barbecue with us.
Dave, I could tell by so many of your haiku and writings that you and we have plenty in common.
Brian, Hubby gets a kick out of me but he has the name thing for the neighbors too and if there is something going on and I am in another room he tells me and we laugh.
deb, we thought maybe for when his kids are with him. But so far the kids just stand there watching him mowing.
Rock Chef, we feel sad for Lonely Guy and we kept looking for detective looking people picking up Widower but he has thrown out all the furniture and started over.
secret agent woman, who knew that playing guessing games about the neighbors could be so entertaining. I can imagine the fun they have with Hubby's Bipolar Disorder.
savannah, does MITM have a blog? It sounds like there are some interesting stories just waiting to be told there.
R J, I love it! We are all weird here too in our own ways. That is part of the fun.
Hi Betty, I honestly never had time to look at the neighbors before now. And it turns out this is one of my fun retirement hobbies. Who knew???
Those are some interesting neighbors. I would have installed Cameras on their yard if I was you. I recently heard, Spying helps build creativity!
Have a good day...:)
We have a "lonely guy" next door who doesn't do much in his yard and likes to collect lots of stuff. There is no telling what wildlife is living in his yard. I enjoyed "meeting" your neighbors. Thanks for the tour.
dang, he did that to the bunnies?
ya know I cannot get my mind off "Littlr Deck",.. Bowahahahaha ah!!
This was a very interesting post, thinking about your neighbors, and then thinking about my own. I live in an apartment complex, have a guy underneath us who recently became a grandpa when his 16-year-old daughter decided to keep her child (a cutie, too). I've got lots of people around me who are nowhere near as interesting as Little Deck, though. Definitely OCD. Fun post!
I think I'd like like Lonely Guy.
Love the deck, and want to make something like that soon.
looks like a pretty big deck to me!
we call one of our next door neighbor's Batwoman. She comes and goes out of her Batcave (garage). Other than seeing the garage door go up and down, we never see her or any activity (other than gardeners) and we've lived here 15 years!
You know this made me laugh. It is amazing how we look at our neighbors. When I used to work I did not notice, now I feel like my Grandpa....pretty much know whats going on and yes even who is sleeping with who. Scandalous. lol. I do not think that I am nosy either, just an aware neighbor...who has too much time on her hands. lol. take care.
I enjoyed this post and neighbor watching update.
We had a neighbor lady like Widower's late wife. Lived across the street from her for over 20 years. She lived with her hubby and special needs daughter. The daughter was from a previous marriage. This woman is now dead too, she was ill with something, don't know what she had. She was AWFUL even before she was sick!!! She hated everyone on our cul de sac. She was mean and would drive very fast on our street even though we CRAWLED into our driveways because of her daughter. Her family also had to sit outside. She would sit outside and complain on her cell phone to whoever. She seemed to have no friends. No one came by and no one from our very friendly neighborhood attended her funeral.
After she died her husband started to talk to the neighborhood. He fixed up his house and loved to work in his yard. A few years passed. Now he is engaged to a very lovely lady. He sold his house, they bought a house together and his life is back on track. Ron and I ran into the two of them recently at Bradley House and the fiance showed us her beautiful ring. I have never seen him happier and younger looking! He told me and Ron that it was the best day of his life when his wife died. WOW!!!!
Anyway, if you check my blog today, the little puppy Coral is part of the new family that moved into our Widower's house. And now it is a very happy house!! xoxoxo
We used to have naked sex neighbors who loved to be exhibitionists with their windows open. But then they had a kid. Haven't seen them around in probably 9 months!
WAIT!!!! Are you sure that Widower and Lonely guy are not friendly and now Widower's wife is not under that little deck?
Just asking...
Tell hubby I have not forgotten and am working on his questions.
Maybe size is relative and where you are things are naturally bigger, but that looks like a pretty good-sized deck to me.
Wondering where the widower goes if he's not there often. Maybe he's "shopping around", not wanting to end up like lonely guy.
This is fascinating. We have nicknames for our neighbors, too. Or sometimes there houses.
We live on a man-made lake, so it's like our back yard is our front porch. There's the Lab guy, who's always out on the boat with his four dogs (seldom any people), Captain Ron, who actually wears a captain's hat labeled with an old-fashioned labelmaker, the kind that made raised letters on plastic? Anyway, his hat is labeled Captain Ron.
There's Negative Edge Dan, who has a pool that's, well, you know. He lives in party cove. Across the lake from us is the guy we call the Hungarian, though it turns out he's Romanian. He lives in what most of our neighbors call "the Big Fat Greek Wedding House."
The "nice Jewish couple" is also from Romania. They're actually very active in their Christian church, but for some reason my husband got it in his head that they are Jewish, and when I teased him about it, the name became permanent.
There's another house a little farther down the lake that has a house so full of murals and little winged, mythical statuettes that some people call it the artist's house and some call it the cemetery. There's also the rock house and the Adam's Family House, so named for it's size and secret rooms.
Ours is the "pig house," so named for a rather large sculpture called "Eat More Beef." When people ask where we live, that's what we tell them. They always know what we're talking about.
At least lonely boy always has his little deck to play with.
I love my deck and I think it's bigger than his.
That was fun to read. It will be even more fun if one them finds your blog.
Hey I finished your questions to me. They are posted. thanks
(cool WV this time = unchill)
Too funny. If it wasn't for the fact that one of my neighbours' house backs onto the park, I'd swear you were talking about him and his little deck. He too, is OCD about his place. His garage is not only painted and spotless, he has crown molding in it. Your neighbour names are too funny. You'd fit right in on my street.
LOL...we are home too...I have the daycare and Jim is a student. Facinating what goes on around you. We have a set of neighbors..a single cat kinda lady...she is lovely to us and an older couple who are also lovely with us..but they live next to each other and fight like cats and dogs...parking wars, sprinkler wars, Seriously ..water going on her yard and she freaks...?? Once she climbed over the fence and broke their sprinkler. He calls the cops for the slightest thing...is crazy. Otherwise...wonderful neighbors all!
Hugs, Sarah
My neighbors have names for everyone, too.
Very cute... little deck....
Mr Stupid, you're not so stupid, huh?
Jeanie, you are welcome; glad you liked to neighborhood tour.
Hi Gary, I knew you would understand being from this area.
Sassy, you crack me up, girl.
DJan, I made the stories short to fit in this post. There is lots more to say.
LL Cool Joe, I know what you mean. I do like Lonely Guy, he is just so sad.
jill, I am so glad to know other people give their neighbors nicknames too.
Cinner, exactly, just an informed neighbor, not nosey. Tell my hubby that. Smile.
Ina, interesting and happy ending story for your neighbor.
Kristina, so far we don't have any naked neighbors. Most of the people in the cul-de-sac have lived here many years.
Vinny, I will tell hubby. You are so cool.
Big Dave, see, it is easy to wonder about where they go and what they do. I love watching them and I think they are all really quiet and nice.
Your neighbors sound really interesting too. I wonder about Captain Ron. We should get him a new hat. Embroidered. I would like to see a post on your blog about your "pig house".
Ronda, if he does much playing he does it inside his house thank goodness.
lisleman, you got me laughing. Glad you liked this post my friend.
Hilary, Hubby and I really are left over hippies and we live our own little life; we just happen to have overactive imaginations.
Sarah, some neighbors really go at it don't they? If it weren't for the Yard Sale Queen filling me in on all the news a couple years ago I wouldn't be as up on the stories today.
I feel sorry for The Lonely Guy.
My still has a neighbor who has been SCREAMING at her husband Gary for more than 20 years. She tells him what to do, when to do it, when to take a break, what to drink during his break, and when to get back to work. She also has a bump-out window, I think so that she can see more of what's going on in both directions down the street. Soooooo nosey!!
I wonder what the neighbors call us!haha
For some people I think yard work is their only creative outlet. In face, my buddy Will freely admits that; he says he can't paint, he can's sing, he can't play music, so his yard is his canvas. It's a great yard too.
Maybe you can suggest ways Lonely Guy could put up some bird feeders our bird/bat/butterfly houses and landscape the perimeter of the deck with plants that attract wildlife?
I love the setup of deck seriously it luk so cool so far!
Love
Sunshine
It's lonely guy's yard, not yours. Maybe he works in the yard to forget his troubles. Invite him over for BBQ.
My husband and I grill in the snow, too!
Interesting neighbors! All mine I am related to..and they are marvelous! I cannot see their houses except in the winter. I do think we need to hear more about the yard sale queen..she sounds interesting..:)
If I got started on my neighbors and their nicknames it would be hysterical we've got names for them all even the ones we like! Let me see do we like any of them? No.. actually I don't think we do. Of course I'm referring to neighbors in Denver, not WC. Come to think of it we do have nick names for them as well, just nicer ones!
You have some very interesting neighbors. I've never seen a house with a sign telling people to go away-- Hmmm, now there's an idea ;-)
Little Deck sounds like he's in his own little world and very OCD.
Love the name "Yard Sale Queen and her Slave-- You must give us at least a short post on them. Pretty please.
jj
Mrs 4444, the neighbor you are describing sounds so harsh and I feel sorry for her husband.
Robert the Skeptic, thanks for bringing up a different point of view. I wouldn't have thought of the yard as a canvas for someone who feels they don't have other talent. I like that way of looking at it.
Sunshine, yes the deck is cool.
Marilynne, I think he does work in his yard to fill in his sad spaces.
Mama Zen, high five! The weather does not ever keep us from grilling when we want to. Which is often.
Far Side, I knew some of your neighbors were relatives, I didn't know all of them are. Wow. I don't have relatives for thousands of miles. Well, some cousins in closer states but I am not in touch with them.
janeywan, this is our first time to nickname our neighbors and it is also the first time to live where we see neighbors regularly.
Joanna, the note was very visible and taped on the glass storm door which is always up. After she passed away, a few months of quiet and then a huge dumpster was there and the Widower and his buddy carried couch and chairs and cupboards and filled that huge dumpster.
Gosh I wished I could see my neighbors! In our neighborhood we are separated by lots and lots of trees, you wouldn't even know that there are many houses in our area. However it was great when my three children were little, the neighbors couldn't hear me yell (scream!) at them to come in, or stop that right now or you are in big trouble...But anyways, it would be nice to have houses to "look at". But, many people would love to have the 3-4 acres we have on a tidal brook. We have birds and deer so they are our entertainment. My mom though lives in town and she keeps up pretty well with her neighbors!!
Cool that lonely guy is building his deck himself. It's ashame that he went out of his way to remove the bunny shelter after hearing of it though. I have a word for that and it ain't OCD.
Gosh, what a colourful neighbourhood you have... Nosey is the best policy. Even entertaining. :)
I might write one entry with the same subject.
After living in the Phoenix area for 14 years....I had my fill of sunshine LOL! So rain just does not really bother me overly much!! Although..I think I am ready for a bit of warm...it is about 50 here...again today..brrrrrr.
Hugs, Sarah
You have very interesting neighbors!
Hi Cheryl, You are right, lots of people would love to have the acreage you have and the place of peace.
Hi Urban Cowboy, at least the rabbits are still coming to our yard for daily visits so they have found a new place to live nearby.
Shadowthorne, I told you we don't watch TV, but we have our own kind of entertainment here. Ha.
Sarah, Phoenix does have lots of sunshine, huh. My hubby grew up there.
Together we save, I think neighbors are wonderful and help each other if you need it.
I love that you nickname ALL the neighbors and keep track of them...You are a woman after my own heart!!! Too fun!! Love, Janine XO
Interesting neighbors!
Wow I'm so glad I found your blog!! I love the wat you express yourself. The couple next door sounds very nice. There's a good one brewing with slave and Queen. Hope it will be a post.
I am so nuts about the fact that you nickname your neighbors. That just makes me incredibly happy!
This is fun and I feel as if we'll need periodic updates on your neighborhood characters.
Great deck! And I too would love to hear of yard sale queen...and her slave. You are such a tease.
Thanks for stopping by my blog hun. My granddaughter has worked with me before on the baby dolls. But never an art project like this. She is a good little helper!
Thanks
Hugs
SueAnn
LOL. I love your take on all the neighbors...I too love people watching and trying to figure out their stories. It sure is nice to have a chance to stop and it and visit. Thanks for stopping by today and for your thoughtfulness! XX Lori
I like to people watch too! But I am sad for Lonely Guy :(
You are a bit nosey, but that's OK. I have a neighbor that could totally beat you. There's a lady on our street who actually went to another neighbor and asked if she could go through their house to the backyard so she could see what the neighbor behind the other neighbor's home. They always know when we put out our recycle bin, and who is parked in front of our home and how late we stay up. Probably know what brand of TP we use. But she's old, so we forgive.
Cheers,
Casey
You got me all interested in all of your neighbors.
Wow. What an awesome visit to your neighborhood. I am so sad for lonely guy and his little deck. I hope he likes it. Maybe the rabbits will move in underneath it. He did a good job.
We need a deck.
PS DEFINITELY want to know more about the Yard Sale Queen.
Interesting. I am glad not to have any neighbors that I can see. There are the woods with all the animals that come around during various times of the day. When we lived in suburbia, I couldn't wait to escape. Finally, we built this house on the island and enjoy being here. Sad that he decided to clear out the good edge habitat that critters like so much.
Oh, I like this post!
And I think Lonely Guy did a nice job on his little deck.
I guess he likes to keep busy to avoid thinking about things maybe?
It's funny how some people get to be almost best friends with their neighbors and some don't know them at all.
We are cordial and friendly with all our neighbors, but we don't socialize and I don't remember their real names half the time and we have nicknames for them too!
(Next door are The Greeks, up the block are the 'new' neighbors, across the street is the Brady Bunch [blended family], and there's 'the big house family', and the Slum Lord, etc), and my sister says she and her husband do the same thing!
Cute post!
You sure have some fascinating neighbors!
Seems like others want to read about The Yard Sale Queen.
I don't think the little deck guy is misnamed. I mean, why destroy a nice place for rabbits?
I sure hope the Widower finds a new wife or girlfriend who is more friendly than his ex. A sign warning people to stay away?
Well, it takes all kinds to make up a neighborhood...
I don't know why but this post makes me smile.
And it is probably my fault, when I was reading about the Lonely Guy, I kept on thinking of "Lovely Bones". So ok I know, Lovely Bones should NOT make anybody smile. It's just that I know I am silly in this way, I like to peg people as Potential Serial Killer material... sigh. I am crazy I know.
So interesting. I'm ready to read more, please! :-)
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