I live in a rural area that has no cat bylaws. I wrote my neighbor a very respectful letter outlining the damage her cats are doing in my yard . This is the second time I have asked her nicely . Her cats have sprayed all over my porch, defecated in my garden and dug up new lawn to use as a litterbox. I have had to reach my garden soil with gravel and pull out plants. The cats are now digging and defecating along the side of my house. I have tried to use humane deterrents to no avail . I agree on the trespassing but where I live you would have no chance of prosecution. I would have to go civilly and that costs a fortune. On top of all this, the person has dogs that are holding the neighborhood hostage . We contemplated selling our dream retirement home. My wife is in tears and she's my sweetie. We have been together 62 years.No one messes with my sweetie. I thought about the 1 plus 1 rule. Where the person violates one rule ...there must be other violations. I used to be in law enforcement ...its been a long time. I felt like that Clint Eastwood in Grand Torino....good movie . I am game for Fluffy's owner doing 15 to 20 in the slammer for 3 strikes, but I think civil liberties might have something to say about that. So am utilizing every bylaw and law to take this neighbor to task . So far , they will have to rip out fence they erected in greenbelt, rip down at least 4 encroaching buildings and redo the fencing.This neighbor is facing penalties for other issues that are going to cost them thousands of dollars. Bylaws is all over the dog situation and other neighbors are now fed up and on board with the whole operation . Oh yes, I should mention there is about to be a stop work order on a bunch of expensive renos this neighbor has done which should amount to thousands too. Do you feel lucky.....damn, I think that was Dirty Harry. I digress. There should be laws that require cat owners to keep them indoors or confined to their yard ( I don't really give a hoot how they accomplish this ...check out Pintrest or something) . I also think they should have mandatory licensing and rabies vaccines for cats...just like dogs. Maybe people also....too far? This neighbor also gets multiple cats of both genders and fails to spay or neuter them. This is reprehensible. Outdoor cats have a short lifepan here because of the wildlife , but this neighbor just gets new cats ( or they are being manufactured....who the heck knows) . It seems they are disposable. Disgusting because its just plain wrong . Did I mention that animal welfare is involved?I have no idea who called them ...my Motorola brick phone was on the fritz last week. I should really get one of those new fangled flip phones . Then I could post on Space Page...or is that Face Page ..or Face book....I am too old for this.. None of this is the animals' fault. This is about a totally irresponsible pet owner. Such people claim to be animal lovers . If they cared a whit about Fluffy, they would not let him out to get eaten by coyotes, pick up parasites or get run over by a car. Nope , these people are animal collectors ....big difference . They own the animal much like they own a Ford pickup or an instant pot or maybe a Grand Torino . So there you have it. For these neighbors, life is about to become very expensive . Fluffy and Fido are going to be very expensive . I can now clean up Fluffy's crap, pee and other bodily fluids with a sense of satisfaction.My sweetie feels a bit better now and she's back to making me those morning glory muffins with my coffee. Recipe is on Pintrest folks ...just reduce the cinnamon a tad. It gives me gas. This whole Fluffy and Fido thing ...this too shall pass. Just like the muffins . My grandson says I should just chill. I told him I just put on a sweater because my circulation bad.

canudigit I am right now trying to decide what to do with the rest of my backyard in grass. Over half the backyard is already in gardens with mulch and outlined around the perimeter of that with large pavers. I have an area left of approximately 46 X 32 in grass. I have been trying to eliminate as much as I can but am hesitant for more mulching area. Literally have hundreds of thousands of maple seeds from neighbors trees drop in my mulch yard in May. Truly a nightmare trying to clean them up yet mowing is horrendous on my back and asthma and would love to get down to just mowing the front. Have worried about doing groundcover although I am considering the wooly thyme yet how much of a nightmare will I be dealing with trying to get maple seeds out of that. Maybe I could just mow over that also after the seeds drop. Can't deal with more of an area of trying to clean up seeds. Thought about just doing the clover so many are doing because atleast I could run the mower over that area. So am trying to decide what else to do here. CH

Thought I'd chime in with one more thing, since I just read the "4 y/o Bosch bites the dust" thread... Maybe it's attributable to my fastidious dish rinse routine or sheer dumb luck, but I have managed to make my low end Whirlpool Gold d/w last 12+ years. Not even really sure how old it is -- it was here when I bought this place 10 years ago and I vaguely remember hearing that the previous owners replaced all appliances two years before I bought it. I have not, not once, not a single time EVER, had to have it serviced. It sounds pretty much like a freight train during an atomic bomb detonation but it runs every time, all the time. That is the kind of reliability I need in my life. I'm wondering if I can realistically expect that with a Miele or Bosch or any other manufacturer (including Whirlpool) for that matter. ::Thinking twice about even posting this, due to the jinxing risk::

I think this is actually in a lean-to addition on the house, but I *have seen various rooms with peaked ceilings added as a decorative detail no matter how it actually relates to the house, on my Real Estate adventures. Usually it is a living room or a hallway where there is clearly a floor above. Imagine walking into an old 3 story row house, with a shallow "vaulted" ceiling, complete with exposed beams, on the first floor front. There are also a lot of mirror crazy houses too, walls of mirror with beveled ornamental overlays or beveled mirror "studs" at the intersections between pieces are very popular.