those aware of my dealings with neighbor complaint of my "excess junk", turned solid waste complaint with the county has made a few changes.

the pristine neighbors, who originally called to state their misgivings about my yard, which is fenced off to their clear view, have not a whole lot to say these days.

they tried with all their calls, to have me comply with their own code of neighborhood 'curb appeal'.
several calls, several visits by one particular "gestapo guy" have been long and drawn out...to the point of me ordering him to leave my property, not to ever return to my property again, or I would call the sheriff.

he's since been taken off of my caseload and it has been turned over to a different official, who has since been to my yard..actually, he had been here the time the other one was ordered to leave.

well, this is what's become of it....

I have a cousin in the city limits..
I'm in rural county....
she hates the neighbors idea of 'yard art'...
in fact...I even can't justify his idea of the stuff he has out and showing along the property lines.

I tried to defend him for a while but he's gotten ridiculous with what's out there now..

I'm sorry I don't have pictures to show but that's just a matter of downloading some...

she called the county..same office I"ve had the run in's with.
poor guy...they assigned the same 'gestapo guy' to him!!

but get this....
the one who took the information about his yard said that she couldn't promise too much..
because of a "particular home owner" that they have been dealing with, the department is having to 're-evaluate' just what is and isn't "solid waste"

bottom line..when the official came to my yard a couple of weeks ago, he said he was having trouble trying to define it all.
it was obvious that I had a yard full of the intentions of gardening, with a lot of "extra stuff" that could possibly be used to incorporate it into the garden.
at that point, he said he'd have to go back to his office and pull up "Article One" and go through it.

since there is absolutely nothing toxic, or environmentally unsafe, other than an abundance of similar things, he had to question if it was or wasn't or did or didn't fall under 'solid waste'...
I asked him if he had to question it at all, why couldn't he at that point, just call this case closed.

so, that's pretty much where it is, at this point in time.
at least I have the department giving some consideration to the look of 'garden junk art' and now it has a name.

not to mention the literally hundreds of pictures that I got from both this forum and the internet in general, of garden art...junk art and all the boots, toilets, sinks, bottles, car parts, vehicles, and you know the stuff I mention...

I compiled it into a very hefty pile, in a huge folder and presented it all to him.

can you imagine that some of those folks have actually never even seen such things as what is everyday art to the rest of us?
that boggles my mind..

and I know that the pictures must have boggled theirs, too.

it does make a difference to stand one's ground...

I'll post more, as it unfolds.

I was talking to a co-worker about how the city gets all excited if someone's house needs painting yet people are being robbed and their homes broken into left and right on the same street. Where are the priorities? That's why the City of Milwaukee has become one giant toilet bowl. I would think that city officials could find something better to do with their time.

Good luck!

geeme, yes, I have done quite a bit of thinking about talking to a particular individual in town.
he's a councilman and also in his day job, is the drama coach at one local high school.
three of my kids were in the childrens' theater a number of years ago.
I used to volunteer making lots and lots of costumes for the kids, way back then.

I agree that kids have wonderful imaginations and could probably do a better job of designing my yard, than what I could ever do.
the stuff is there...
if the teacher/coach would agree, they could do it all in the name of community service, which is very important to their high school portfolios, for graduation.
it could definately be a win/win deal.

and probably make it to an article in the paper, considering the underlying problems that would bring it to fruition.

I'm glad you reminded me of what I had been thinking of a few months ago but actually it flew out of my mind, in the midst of the chaos.

again, thanks to all........

Becky

Having said all that, I would like to see a few pics of your decorations and if anyone else here has some suggestions for ways to help you get organized better maybe they could offer you some assistance. Remember, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, remind your neighbors of that, and if you have any other choice scriptural references, throw them in too. Cheryl