Neighbours in the garden

In February, the wall that holds up my neighbour’s  decking collapsed. And I was incredibly naive about it. I thought it would get sorted in a few weeks! But it is now late July, and literally nothing has happened. And that is a right pity; they live right on the river, but they can't sit outside looking at it. The only outside space they have now is between their house in my garden, and the sun never gets there.

In February I didn't expect them to want to spend a lot of time outside. But it would soon be spring! And I developed a habit of telling them when I would be away, inviting them to just sit in my garden instead of indoors, and hoping that they would indeed do so. They never did!

Then I developed a new tactic. I thought that if I would just cook dinner for them, they would come, and then maybe after that they would feel a bit less awkward about using my garden when I'm out. And both neighbours either have worked, or still are working, at the University library with Marjan, so I could cook for all five of us in one fell swoop. And that's what I did!

It was a nice evening! It was lovely weather, and the midges didn't appear. I personally was happy with the meal I had cooked, and Jaco had provided the desert, so that was excellent. And the neighbours had brought something to drink! And we had plenty to talk about. Not only about libraries. 

I mentioned this to several friends and colleagues. They all said that they will never sit in my garden when I am out. British people just don't do that! So maybe my cunning plan hasn't worked at all. Well at least I had a lovely evening in the garden with nice people and good food! That's worth something. And additionally, I hope that at some point, repair activities will finally commence, so they will get their decking back…