Thank you for the reply Manda. I got proactive yesterday after hitting rock bottom. I was able to reach over the hog wire since its so thin and I pulled up every stick, log and branch. It felt good. Really Good. He "caught" me in the act and I confronted him, mentioning codes, branches from a 2 year old ice storm, not mowing, rats and other rodents and that this fence solution would not fly and he had to do something because I am going to call the city. We had already politely suggested people who worked cheap and ideas on four occasions so I feel he has had every chance. It will take me probably 3 city pickups to get rid of what I pulled out yesterday but it was a great way to work out my anger. I found out the fine for the stagnant pond is $1000. The cut branches were listed as a violation but I don't think they fine you for that. Stagnant water--serious business. They make 3 visits, a warning, a second to see if it in compliance and then a third to clean it up and bill the person. Each visit is charged $200 unless you do something. I feel better. One way or another the party is over. No more molly coddleing.

I'd like it if we celebrated Thanksgiving in October like our Canadian neighbors. After all, we're on the same continent LOL. Then it wouldn't seem like such a gosh darn rush of the season to me. The below sure makes sense as to why Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving earlier, at least to me: "Thanksgiving in the United States was observed on various different dates throughout history. By the mid 20th century, the final Thursday in November had become the customary day of Thanksgiving in most U.S. states. It was not until December 26, 1941 however that President Franklin D. Roosevelt, after pushing two years earlier to move the date earlier to give the country an economic boost, signed a bill into law, with congress, making Thanksgiving a national holiday and settling it to the fourth (but not final) Thursday in November.[8] Thanksgiving in Canada did not have a fixed date until the late 19th century, at which time it was typically held on November 6. After the end of World War I, Thanksgiving Day and Remembrance Day ceremonies were usually held during the same week. To avoid the two holidays from clashing with one another, in 1957 the Canadian Parliament proclaimed Thanksgiving to be observed on its present date."

seil - I don't think it worked - can't see any pics on your post. I have contacted the Houzz support folks about this problem (I can't post pics either). I expect to hear from them in a couple of days - I'll let you know what they say. Hopefully it is a glitch they can fix, not an "improvement"! Jackie

Sharon, as I noted on my thread at the top, the Winter Madness thread is not moving up to the top of the page, in spite of new comments. Also, yes, comments have been hard to post the last 2 or 3 days. I've had good luck just waiting for that annoying notification, saying something went wrong, and refresh the page. I ignore that and back click to the main list of threads, then click on the thread again I attempted to post on. Voila! There is my post just like everything was "normal" (as if anything is normal on Houzz). Whatever you do, don't refresh the page because your post will definitely disappear into the ether. Diane