A few days ago the HH and I were talking about how awful it is that Lucy can’t run around the backyard like she used to and how my desire to garden here at this property has really gone downhill the last few months. And especially how the whole situation is making me really, really, REALLY crabby.
I need dirt. I need privacy. I need my sweet little companion helping me dig and playing freely by my side as I dawdle around the backyard in the privacy of my own backyard.
If I don’t find a happy medium soon, I’m going to weigh like 424 million pounds.
A few days ago the HH suggested we get a fence. {He likes it here, the neighborhood is nice, the house is really coming together and he just wants his {perpetually} restless wife to be happy. I get it. I really do.
Fast forward to yesterday … Noon.
The doorbell rang. It was a man from the Stepford Snoopervising committee. Cameron the carpenter and John Voight were here again working inside on the master bathroom. So when the 5 committee {yes 5!} members arrived, I told Cameron and John Voight to stay inside and keep the {paper} shade on the window down…. so the committee couldn’t peek in.
They laughed… and remained hidden. Because HELLO… why attract attention to projects I didn’t get approval for. Right?
Oddly enough, not a single committee member commented about the fact that there were 50+ bright pink flamingos planted in my backyard. Or the fact that I had planted a side vegetable garden. {The HH said one of them must read my blog and doesn’t want to give me the satisfaction of acknowledging the plastic bird situation.}
Instead the committee was more concerned about if I had talked to my neighbors about installing a fence {on my property} “It would be a courtesy you know.” or if we were approved for a fence, would I “plant something alongside the side property to soften the look of the fence. Because we do have a certified botanist on the committee if you would like some ideas.”
Ummm…. Let me guess. He’d suggest I plant rhododendrons? Ya. I’ll be sure and get some free gardening advice. You bet. Sign me up. Blah Blah Blah, smile, wave yada, yada, yada.
Just approve me for a freakin’ fence so I can get back to playing in the dirt already.
So now we wait.
Will Lucy get to run around a play outside like dogs all over the world do every single day? Will Mavis get to plant something in the privacy of her own FENCED backyard without passerby’s asking questions?
Tune in next week for Mavis vs the HOA Part 5
The saga continues…
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Karen says
Oh Mavis….. There isn’t enough prozac and xanax on the planet for me to deal with those people. I don’t know how you do it, youmust have the patience of a saint.
linda says
I wouldn’t deal with a home owners Assoc. They have crazy rules. Hope you can find way out.
Jennifer says
I’m so sorry that you’re going thru this. I can’t stand the whole home association thing. We live now in a house to itself. It’s not the biggest, it’s older but we love it here. There are woods around and all kinds of animals around. We have a fence for our dogs and I can plant anything I like…and watch it die, not so good at some plants. 🙂 I wish you the best and hopefully you’ll get this settled soon.
Judy says
Mavis I have lived in rural areas my whole life. Never lived on a piece of dirty smaller then 3 acres.
I feel sorry for Lucy the puggle. She should be running in the garden with you.
I could never live in a community with a Hoa or nosy busy bodies!
I’d be moving!
Hope Lucy gets her fence.
andrea d says
I just read something yesterday that said honey from bees who collected nectar from certain rhododendron flowers is toxic to humans. Even small amounts can cause lowered blood pressure, heart irregularities, fainting, seizures, hallucinations, and numbness. Not that you are keeping bees (I bet the HOA would love that!). And there are apparently over 700 varieties of rhododendron and only three produce the toxin. But still, a good vote against the plant. Good luck with the fence! Can’t wait to see how the saga unfolds.
Tammy says
I say if you can’t beat them, join them! 🙂
I’m sorry you’re having so much trouble. I think my great-grandparents who lived in a senior citizen park had less trouble! Ergh.
Gwenn says
Mavis, have you considered an invisible fence? We have one in our yard, it was very reasonable and you don’t need to dig up your yard to install it. The wire can lay on top of the ground and eventually the grass will grow over it. You use little picks (like the kind you can use to secure landscaping fabric to the ground) to put it into place, plug the transmitter in and have Lucy wear a collar. We have ours set on a beep sound only. Our dogs have learned the boundaries and won’t cross them…..even while chasing one of the hundreds of evil squirrels that inhabit our neighborhood. We have two dogs, boxer/vizsla and a dalmatian/cattle dog and both have settled in very well to the invisible fence. We are planting bushes and shrubs just outside of the invisible fence line to create a natural fence/barrier.
debbie in alaska says
An invisible fence won’t give her privacy to garden without being snooped on 🙂
KAte says
An invisible fence works for Lucy, but it won’t hide the SEKRIT GARDEN BOXES…and remember what happened the last time she tried to plant shrubs? HOLY HOA BATMAN!
Jane says
Oh, honey. Hang in there. I think you’re keeping it together incredibly well:-).
Diana says
Am I the only one who can see a made-for-tv movie at the end of this saga? While you contact HGTV and get the wheels turning, I’ll stay tuned for Part 5. *grin*
Nancy D says
Is all that food for your construction guys? If so, they must LOVE you!!!!
Amy says
I absolutely hated living in a community with an HOA! It was miserable how they wanted to control every little aspect about the outside of the home. A few years ago my in laws purchased a home in a gated community with an HOA. My husband and I lived there for a few years and took care of the house for them while they lived in Louisiana where they worked. At first I didn’t think too much of it and figured the HOA would be a good thing, you know, helping on keeping the community look nice. That was until we started getting letters and fines for all sorts of stuff! I planted a couple of carambola and guava saplings in the yard and had to remove them right away =[ I couldn’t even have a mini vegetable plot. It was ridiculous. Well, fast forward a few years. I now live in Massachusetts ( near salem) with my husband and son. My mother and father in law moved into their Florida home. They quickly got sick of the HOA and decided to install a tall white fence so that they could plant all sorts of good delicious stuff. You should see it, it’s really quite amazing and a big “f you” to the community HOA lol. I’ll be visiting them this august so I’ll be sure to take lots of photos for you to see. The yard is not that big but managed to squeeZe in so much.
Mavis Butterfield says
I LOVE the Salem area!!! 🙂
amy says
5 snoops!? talk about a power play… grrrrr
i dunno if you would get back the money you put in for a fence when you sell, but if it’s worth it to get back your sanity, go for it!
Tracy L. says
Wow! At least the tubs installed!! Did you at least take a long hot bath? Get the fence, you and Lucy will be MUCH happier!! Why’d you move again?
Karen says
Mavis, hop in the car and take a quick road trip over here to your neighbors in Idaho! Lucy can exercise a few of my chickens and dig in the dirt, just like old times! I am a regular blog reader so we can look at some seed packets and you can answer a couple of canning questions and then you can write it off as a business trip! 🙂 Just something to think about! Hang in there and holler if you need a road trip!
Michele says
God Bless You, because I would have kicked their collective butts out the door! Certified Botanist????? Really? I’m sure he’d give you advice for a nominal fee….On the other hand, I’m glad the Flockin’ Flamingos are still there!!!! Be strong!
Heather says
Screw that. These HOAs think they are so high and mighty. Go to the nearest Lowe’s and get them to do your fence. We were supposed to get approval for our fence and, yeah, we didn’t. And, guess what the HOA didnt have a CHANCe to say a word about any of it. The evening before the fence went in is when Lowe’s dropped off all the wood (we have a shadowbox fence). THe next morning they were here at 8am on the dot and were DONE in 4 hours. The prez of the HOA lives on my street. With the CRAP from our ex-next door neighors…I DARE anyone to say a word to us. Cannot WAIT to move. Our sign is up right now. Anyone who lives and breathes for the HOA can have my house… #rantingover
I do hope that you get your fence. And, as for the certified botanist, HA! All of your stuff is awesome. They might wish they were nicer to you… One day they may wish they could use your help.
Heather says
oh, yeah, and LONG LIVE THE FLAMINGO!
Mary G says
Your house is looking really nice. I’m so sorry about the fence/lack of privacy/busybodies. I hope you do get your fence. We don’t have a fence where we live now in a semi-rural area in New England, but our property is on 4 wooded acres and we have some distance between our neighbors. Nobody is going to know or care about what I’m planting, and we do have an invisible fence for our dog. When we lived in a suburban area, we had a fence, and it did provide a nice level of privacy. If you like the area, that’s a big part of living there. Hang in there.
Pam says
The only time I lived in a community with an HOA (long time ago), the ONLY rule they ever enforced was no front yard fencing. You could put an 8 ft. tall stockade in the backyard but nothing in the front. I had a new neighbor moved in who installed a decorative 3 ft. tall split rail fence around a portion of the front yard. The HOA enforced the rule by coming out at 6:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning and pulling the fencing out of the ground. I had 2 large trees with planting beds around the bottom that I’d put an 8″ tall decorative fence around (plastic white picket) and they pulled that out while they were at it. *Sigh* I sure miss that house sometimes but I don’t EVER miss the HOA folks.
Erin says
They pulled it out themselves without talking to you?! I would think that classifies as trespassing and maybe even vandalism!
bobbi says
I can’t wait to find out what happens! lol. I am so glad we don’t have to worry about that. I understand they want to keep everything “nice” or the same look, but it is YOUR property, YOU pay the taxes, etc., and you should be able to do what you want. *sigh* Never ending battle I suppose and I know someone will say “then they should have moved somewhere without a HOA”. 🙂 Oh well, to each his own. Good luck, hope they approve the fence.
Jo says
Could you ‘flip the script’ and find some fruit bearing native plants that you would like? Most of the plants on the approved list are native to your area, including some species of rhododendron. There are a LOT of natives that bear fruit that I bet you could talk them into. That may be why they have a botanist, to help figure out native alternatives.
Native plants have tremendous benefits for the bees, the birds, other critters and you. Typically they have less maintenance too. I live on the east coast, and have planted natives and enjoyed the fruit as much as the bees. I am part of a bee study at my local university and I have more species of bees than others in my area, presumably because of the native plant mix.
That said, I despise HOAs and am so glad I don’t live with one! However, I bet there is a native plant compromise that would make everyone happier. Good luck!
Marcia says
Oh what an HOA saga! Now I am reminded of why we didn’t buy into one, though they were tempting.
I have friends in NM who had problems with their own HOA, so they ran for president and VP and won, and little by little changed the rules.
Our house is tiny and on a small lot. And it used to be part of a bigger lot in the 50’s, but they split it, and so there’s a house behind us, and the guy has an easement to get to his house/ garage.
So in addition to only having a 5300 sf lot, about 8 ft x 100 ft of that is driveway. One side of the driveway is a big hedge on the neighbor’s property. It used to be 20 ft high (unmanageable), but the new owners cut it down to 10 ft. The other side of the driveway is our house and teeny backyard, which is on a hill.
A couple of years after we bought the house we had the backyard redone to be “tiered” instead of a slant of weeds. This necessitated changing the rotten and leaning fence with a new one. We asked the two neighbors (in the back and on the side of the property without the driveway) if they wanted a “good” side. They said no, so we put the “good” side on the inside.
One day we got an irate (and somewhat drunken) phone call from the guy on the other side of the driveway. Through this very small hole in the large hedge, from his overgrown junky backyard, he could see the “bad” side of the fence (which wasn’t even the property line!) and started complaining about it!
Yeah, wasn’t sad to see him move.
Mindy says
These posts always tick me off. Five of them, really!? It’s like a bitchy, stuck up sorority.
Lisa Millar says
Totally LOVE how you are hiding tradesmen in the house!! I laughed.
(Do you actually need HOA approval to do things inside your house too??)
FIVE committee members??? Fabulous! They are probably having special secret meetings about you. You must have them a bit concerned.
Here’s hoping that the fence approval will go through ASAP so you and Lucy can get digging again in peace!
🙂
Connie says
Really? Five committee members? I suppose that’s the whole “safety in numbers” thing … good grief. Three cheers for the HH!!! A fence, indeed. Mavis – I pray it is approved and constructed SOON so you can create the sanctuary you and your sweet Puggle Princess crave & soooo deserve. 🙂
Margaret says
Mavis, So sorry for all the problems you are having… Moving there, you thought you would have this wonderful updated home and beautiful yard to enjoy.
This might have been mentioned and I miss it but did the HOA give you a copy of the HOA rules when you moved in?
Sounds like they are making rules as they go walking and talking past your house!
You could run for President of the HOA as one had friend suggested…A fence is the answer for sure. Wonder how limited that would be. If a fence is a No No, how soon can you pack and move to East Coast? Would love to have you!
Praying tomorrow is a better day for you and your family….
Vicki says
Wow. That’s all there is to say…just wow.
Jezibels says
You know what they say about fences, “fences make good neighbors”
Meredith says
Sounds like your snitch might be your next door neighbors and this committee is speaking secretly on their behalf. I hope you get your fence! If other houses in the neighborhood have them, then they have already set a precedent. Denying you one would be out of spite. I love my HOA so much that I actually joined it, but our rules are very simple. Like maintain your yard and house so it looks nice from the street. That’s it…and then let’s have lots of parties at the clubhouse. And free ice cream on the weekends. I am working on them to allow chickens lol. Best of luck to you!
Pamela says
Hahaha, I love reading about this saga. I am sorry you have to go thru it, but it does break up the hum drum of our day, when we need a laugh. The description of each and every one of them is GREAT!! Seriously, you should put it all in print. Haha!!!
nancy says
Good luck with the fence. I too dreamed of the privacy a fence would bring but our HOA said the only fence we could install is the type you could see through! God forbid they wouldn’t get to see what I was doing. Yesterday my husband opened the garage door to cut some lumber to make a few planters for my deck. Immediately a HOA member was there asking him WHAT WAS HE DOING? I had a ton of bags of soil for my garden delivered from Home Depot yesterday and oh boy they are going nuts. I had one car drive past 5 times and back up three of those times to get a better view on what we are doing. We are spending the entire day in the garden…wish me luck. I have to “dress up” to go do the work because I know I will have company…LOL
Kathy Findley says
That is really creepy that they come to your door like that. My hats off to you for being able to deal with that kind of crap.
Mavis says
Creepy is right. I’m not a fan of that, but I don’t have any choice but to deal with them!