I'm going to cry

Not only did our wonderful neighbors cut down the woods to put in "landscaping"...  They decided that they should build a gravel road right next to our now oh-so-visible property line.  A freaking road.  Cause that's loads better than woods, right?

We love our house, but...

Several months ago, Shayne and I started to seriously talk about moving.  We've always wanted more property, but we always had the mentality of "someday, down the road..."  Ultimately, though there were things we disliked about out current location, most everything was good, and we were happy.  But then things started to change.

I started to become upset with our neighbors, the ones who own the noisy bar a block or so away.  I kept thinking about how I don't want our future kids to be outside playing in the evenings amid the sounds of drunken revelry.  I started to be bothered by their blatant disregard for others.  They blare loud music out in their barn at 2 am and tear up our grass by riding snowmobiles across our yard when there's only 2" of snow.  After a few months of silent fuming, I decided I needed to adjust my attitude.  Talking to them about the problems was impossible; they refused to answer the door when I went over there.  So I decided not to let it piss me off.  It was just little stuff, and not worth an ulcer.  I managed to chill myself out and felt much better about everything.

Then a few weeks ago, I started hearing chainsaws.  All the time.  And bit by bit, the woods that separate our properties shrank, then vanished.  At first, they left some of the larger trees, making it look somewhat park-like and pleasant.  I had hope that maybe they were done and, even though most of the woods was gone, a little of our natural privacy fence would remain.  A few days ago, those last remaining trees also ended up in the ever-growing woodpile.  When we talked to the neighbor's son, he said that the woods were ugly and mom wanted "landscaping". 

Here are some pictures to show how things have "progressed":

 

Even in winter, we had some privacy...

 

 But now??

 

 

Both Shayne and I are horrified.  There's no other way to put it.  When I look out the kitchen window, which is the view in the last picture, I want to cry.  Those last few little trees are on our property.  As skinny and straggly as they look, we're keeping them.

Part of the reason we liked and bought our house/property was the setting.  Even though we don't live too far from the city it felt pretty rural.  Our little half acre felt bigger because of the trees surrounding it.  With woods on 2 sides, our yard was a bit isolated, and we liked that.  Now our privacy is gone.  You can see our house from quite a ways down the road, and we're in full view of the road and neighbors the second we set foot out the back door.  Our backyard no longer feels like a little haven surrounded by woods; it feels like we live in a subdivision. 

I hate it.  Shayne hates it.

Funny how just one thing can push you over the edge. 

And so, we've decided to wrap up our unfinished projects and move on.  It'll take us several months, at least, to finish what we've started, but we want to get the house into "sell-able" condition, then start looking for something else.  We're not in any real hurry, and we're not going to do shoddy work just to get the house ready to sell.  But our focus has definitely changed.  We were planning on living here at least 10 years, possibly longer.  I was really looking forward to putting the house back the way it used to be.  Now I'm just looking forward to being done.

I've become one of those people...

Last week I was heading to the post office from the opposite side of town, so I was in neighborhoods I rarely visit. On a side street I saw a beautiful bungalow with its top torn off. I wish I'd have had my camera, but it was a sad, sad sight. There was nobody around, and a dumpster full of houseparts, so I did what any old house whore lover would have done: I got out for a peek around.

The dumpster was full of beautiful red oak trim, tongue and groove flooring, and windows!

I wanted so badly to root through it, but I was right off a main street and I didn't need the police called on me. Technically, since it's in a dumpster it could be considered trash, and I would be free to root through it, but I don't need any trouble. Instead, I left a note on the door (next to the building department's tag stating they did have a permit for demo!), and asked them to PLEASE call me.

Our house is pine, not oak, but if I could get it cheap enough I'd just donate it to the ReStore. Then at least it wouldn't end up in the dump...