Penny I feel your pain! I found over the years that soft packaged mulch was how they were hiding/moving about/eating the bottoms out of my Hostas over the winter months. I took away all mulch against my house and used hard, larger pieces of pine mulch I got from Clarence Center (but Town no longer providing this mulch). They can't bury themselves in this. I also moved the pine needles from under my/my neibhbor's 4 pine trees to the back of our 200'W x100'D property where my neighbor and I share tall boxes (TV cable boxes, telephone, and one other-Electric?). Around these, together we planted ditch lillies and pine mulch to prevent weeds....here is where they have moved to and I seem to no longer have a problem! Neither one of us cares if the voles eat the lillies--have at it. They have a continuous supply of lillies and I know they can't kill those guys! This has been 2 years now and I maybe see 1-2 a summer. However, my other neighbor still has the problem with them, BUT ALSO buys and uses bagged mulch. Best of luck. Ginny B.

Donna, glad to hear your remaing TRES are doing well. Also glad your Sisters are back. The Dragon Flys are finally out so I know "my" babies will be fine. It's so nice to see the parent just have to make a 30 second loop around the house and come back with a bug. Poor thing had been making 30-40 minutes trips there for a few days. I will get one last peek at them tomorrow then have to just listen to them till fledge day. My Dees are a few days behind yours and my Blues are nearly done with the new nest for round 2. Life is good. ;D

Yes this is an old thread, but extremely relevant; especially in light of Covid and all the insanity it is breeding. I have two nasty neighbors, so I got the luck of the draw. One on each side. The neighbor to the left was syrupy sweet for a few months, but that turned. The neighbor to the right is anal as all get out but feels as if he is entitled to encroach on our property, move things, dig our fence up because he felt it wasn’t level, take deck tiles he agreed to buy from me, but never made good on, mow over my outdoor area rug, and “accidentally“ destroy various things. The man isn’t crazy, just anal and entitled at 50 plus years old. Worse than a toddler. Never apologies or offers to replace what was damaged. I have felt like retaliating in several occasions, but I always pull myself together. My husband is now seeing things more and more. You are not crazy. Those that are calling you crazy must be “that crazy neighbor” to someone else or just plain evil and nasty. There are so many people in the world like this. A person entitled and miserable is extremely difficult to live by. I pray your situation has improved. We are hoping to move in a year or so. I will be sure to pay extra careful attention to the neighborhood and make certain there is ample distance between property lines. I want peace!

I'm with you texasredhead. Look gardurnit, I'm not rich, sure don't live in a vacuum, and I can pay my bills. Point is that you can't afford insurance or the cost of electrical repairs. You have vague notions of turning the home into income property and you expect people to help you. As you have pointed out, most charitable organizations want to help families. In addition virtually none are going to want to donate time or materials to income property. Strike three is that you don't seem financially capable of pulling this off - you couldn't afford insurance in the first place -- and now you have a bigger problem. Good thing it didn't burn down. You really need to work with someone who you can trust to develop a more realistic plan. That plan would probably involve selling the house and finding housing that is appropriate to your financial situation and physical ability. You might actually get more cooperation on finding an electrician who would work at reduced rates in order to get the house sold than to continue with the rental idea. Check and see if there is a non-profit community development corporation in the area that could help you. You have a lot of interwoven problems/concerns - the wiring isn't the real issue.