New neighbors - grrrrr

Put up game camera to catch them in the act of trespassing and destruction of your fence. If you catch them on film, call the sheriff.

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I yam what I yam and that's all what I yam.

Popeye

AWWWW Theres your handle! They really dont care about you and yours its money they are looking at. Tell them the former owner sold cause your such a lousey neighbor then take steps to make it look like you are the neighbor from hades to a drive by buyer.. The point being that it will make it hard for them to sell. Then offer them $4000 cash and $2000 payments and see if they will bite.

On the upside if they do sell maybe you will get a better neighbor?

They sound a lot like a neighbor I had down in Ga. They bought a tiny lot with a run down trailer on it and put it up for sale for 5 times the real value. I offered them a decent price for the place, but they turned me down, saying they knew somebody that would give them what they wanted for it. A week later, the trailer burned from the outside, and (according to the state fire marshall) the ground around it still smelled of gasoline two days later. The owners just happened to be out of town the night it happened. The only problem was that I saw them an hour before the fire, loading their belongings into their car (at 11pm).

Keep an eye out for smoke.

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Only the paranoid survive.

I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy.

Dispatches From The Conservative Underground

meaner than they are. When we had some problem neighbors, I made it a point to go out and target shoot with my shotgun and pistol.


They kept their distance....

That's terrible.
Sorry to hear about your brother.

I am so glad I don't have neighbors.

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Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
Mark Twain
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Enforced tolerance is oppression

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Wow sorry you guys have had so many problems w/ neighbors. Makes me glad I can just barely see mine from the road.

Go to the mattresses (from The Godfather)

Make sure you document everything. Infrared game cameras are your friend, just dont make them or it obvious.
Involve the sherrif [U]now[U]. For your own protection and any future civil action. That is what you pay then for.

Did you ever ask them why they turn around on your grass? If it was my place, I would be curious to know why the neighbors find that easier than turning around on their place.

I wouldn't have posted a note on their door. There is a small chance that they didn't mess with your "fence". Besides, if talking to them did not help, they will probably just pretend they did not get the notice.

I am assuming that you have a smaller place. I would spend most of my time out front and catch them in the act of driving on my place and deal with them then. How I dealt with them would be heavily dependent on their attitude. In Texas we have quite a bit of leeway in dealing with trespassers. I would probably order them out of their vehicle at gunpoint and make them lie down in the dirt until the sheriff came to save them. Make sure they are still on your property when you do this. I don't think they would want to go through that too many times. Of course, your state may not allow you to do such a thing.

Good fences make good neighbors. It's too bad these people have zero respect for others.

When we bought our ten acre farm we only had one close neighbor right across from our driveway. His house was close to the road. He was elderly and cranky . He cut down our fruit trees and opened gates to let out our animals. Finally he run his truck in a ditch and went to live with a relative. The house was sold to foreingers who rented it. The first renter stayed seven years and were great! The next ones were hateful and let their cat spray on our garden until the cat disappeared and they finally moved. The present neighbors were a homeless family which I helped rent the house. They repaid us by stealing from our garden, cursing us, accusing my husband of watching their girls and playing horrible loud music. The police said there was nothing they could do. We complained to the landlord and after these people were there six years he sold them the house! At first nothing changed so we started ignoring them and turning our backs when evr they said anything. We also started talking to the children whenever the occasion arose. When their ball landed in our yard we would retrieve it and return it. When we saw the adults we would smile and wave. This was hard because they also killed my pet cat. Last year a miracle happened. The harrassment stopped! The music stopped after six years of it and my husband stopped wearing ear plugs ! This spring the man spoke to my husband friendly. These people have changed a bit but still don't like me but I can live with that as long as they continue to leave us alone. The point is wait long enough and be kind to your horrible neighbor's without compromising your rights and values and eventually they will act better. Or maybe because they are middle aged now, have a mortgage, a girl in college and a teen age boy they are too busy and tired to act like juviniles. Patience, kindness, resisting the urge to retalliate always pays off in the end while still holding your own position.

Why did you help a homeless family move in next to you? Was your life not 'interesting' enough? I would have to be doing some big time penance for past wrongs, to willingly invite a torturesome environment in right next to me.

Each time someone moved out would have been a great time to ask the landowner how much he wanted for the property.

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

Hi Texican; Why did I help a homeless family? Well they were living in a tent in a fish shanty a two minute walk from our house by the ocean. They had three kids and it was almost winter. They had a hard luck story and we felt sorry for the kids. So we helped them. Where I went wrong was not first doing a check of their back ground to see if they were telling the truth. Turns out the man of the house never got along with anyone no matter where he lived and that inclided his own mother. I can't sleep at night if I know kids are suffering and I can do something to help.

Why did we not buy the other farm? Simply the owners wanted $125,000. every time we asked about it. We raised three kids on our little farm with less than $5ooo. a year income. The other two were grown when we bought the place. It took us ten years to pay for our farm. We lived well but carfully and still make every penny count. There is no way we would put ourselves in debt for $125,000 even if a bank would loan us that kind of money which they wouldn't. We don't know how this man and wife got the money either although they both work and I suspect the looming debt is settling them down.

Was my life not interesting enough you asked? My life is very interesting and we are very happy. I didn't know this man and wife had split personalities when I helped them. Any way we have learned from all of this to be more cautious when we see some one in dire circumstance. Many people are there of their own doing. I would still have helped them because they had three kids. But I would not have helped them move across the road from us not knowing them.

Now things have settled down it is peaceful around here again. We used to hope they would move but then someone worse might get the place. At least our enemies are close enough to watch and we know who they are and how to deal with them.

I see other comments on this forum about farmers and have to say no one should farm unless they really like the work as my husband does. He was one of five children and the only one who likes farming and continued to do it after he was grown.

We are not hobby farmers. The farm is what feeds us and provides a living for us. We never made alot of money but then we didn't need a lot. Our kids when they were teenagers worked if they wanted extra things. They grew up understanding what ever life style they chose it would involve work to live. They all are professional people with good jobs paying their own way in life. They didn't choose to live as simply as they grew up but they have the knowledge to farm and survive if they choose or need too.

Bill and I always lived by the principle, " It isn't how much you earn that is important; but what you don't spend." Some people want more material things and some want less. We are the latter. We value our freedom and work to take care of our selves without having to go work 40 hours a week for someone else. We work much longer than 40 hours a week on the farm in the summer and rest in the winter. We enjoy family , friends, our animals and eachother. We are content with our life.

Other people want more things and that is alright and their choice like my children. There are many lifestyles in this world and many ways to work. Not everyone is the same.

When we came to this farm 24 years ago we had nothing but grandfather's old farm tools and hand me down furniture for the house. Bill scoured the country for old horse drawn farm equipment and rebuilt it. What he couldn't find he made. We lived like pioneer ancestors and it took years of work to get this place to what it is today. We recycled everything long before recyling was popular. He was composting to make fertilizer before organic farmimg was done any where around here.

We worked hard but money was not our goal. We only earned what was necessary. Our goal was to make the land sustainable because that is what feeds us and the animals and others. You can't eat money and it is only worth anything as a vehicle of trade as long as the government says it is. If we had lots of money in the bank and suddenly the economy changed as it did recently when many people lost their homes and money ; we probably be homeless right now. Had we been caught unprepared in debt for things we really didn't need our life would have been in ruins. For us life won't change much whether there is a recession or depression because we are living basic and within our means. We learned that lesson listening to old people talk about the Depression years ago.

What I am trying to say is life is about choice. We are thankful we live in North America where a person can still choose their life style. One way to live is not better than another but everyone needs to realize they need basic food and shelter and should think about that even if they still have a more affluent life style. Always be prepared to live with only a little money or none if you have too. If that time never comes that is great. But if it does you will prepared.