Agree with camlam. Going a bit further... This appartment itself is just terrible, there's a heavy roach infestation in the trash chute and our bathroom is growing mold. I was going to suggest some things to follow through on that, but rereading again, you've mentioned everything was fine for 9 months till noise started, and now the mold and roaches are bothering you as well? Have the bugs and mold been there all along? If so, 9 months into the lease is late to address it, kind of knocks your credibility. But you can try. If bugs and mold are newer developments, I'd suggest addressing it immediately from that angle. Because I'm about to suggest you consider moving. More on that below... Before suggestions, details on the mold. Where is it located? If it's in the tub area, you're only going to get a response that it needs to be cleaned regularly with a product with bleach or something like Tilex Mildew Root killer. It only takes about ten days of not cleaning before mold can appear in a tiled area. (I had one rental it was so bad in tub corners from not cleaning regularly I had to pull all caulking out and replace, mold had gotten under the caulk by that time.) But if mold is on a ceiling area, or a drywalled wall, or behind a sink, that could be indicative of too much humidity (exhaust fan is needed) ~or~ there's a leak somewhere (plumbing, overhead unit if there is one, roof above if there's no one above you). It's permitting moisture to seep through walls. If that's the scenario, you don't want to live with it and mgmt needs to be alerted because if they don't address it, it will only get worse and cause higher cleanup/repair costs. I'd suggested something in writing (Certified, so it has to be signed for) to mgmt/LL. This does two things: creates a paper trail as a record and shows you made an attempt to resolve with LL first. Don't make threats or be aggressive, just be businesslike and point out the issues and the health concerns. (Mgmt doesn't necessarily know it's there if you don't tell them.) If there is no response to your letter or action taken, then you might want to consider calling the health department. Approaching from this angle is going to prepare you for a move. If you're on a longer than annual term, health department violations not addressed are a legitimate reason to get out of a lease early (and where your written record of communication will come in handy). If, on the other hand, you're on an annual lease, I'd encourage you to start looking at other places soon, and not renew your lease there. Would it be too difficult to start thinking about a move? Imagine funds are tight with your DH in med school, but is that an option? I generally don't like to see "just move" as a suggestion, but if you're on an annual lease then you're nearing the end of your term and renewing it could feasibly lock you into the chaos that much longer. Your lease probably says you have the right to quiet enjoyment. That can be a tricky one to address, because noise is subjective. What bothers some won't phase others. But honestly, if mgmt is saying they can't do anything unless it's after 9PM, then odds are they won't be doing much about it. So maybe you can use the remaining term to look for a new place? Because if this woman is a screamer, has permitted her kids to scream and be disruptive, and she's comfortable displaying that behavior right from the get-go at move in, odds are not much is going to change those behaviors unless she's removed from the premises. Mgmt is going to need a really strong case to prove in court in order to evict someone from their home, and noise complaints usually need police visits with written reports as support documentation. Without that, it's one's word against another and very difficult to claim and prove. As a former frequent migraine sufferer, I feel for you (and could it be mold is a trigger?). LLs get this too. One of my rental homes has a newer neighbor like that. She's a real nut case, and the driveways are right next to each other. I will have that house on the market soon and that neighbor is going to be a deterrent to renting, she's that obnoxious. I learned from surrounding neighbors the police have been called several times because they (mom and teen kids) get out on the front lawn and scream, yell, teens argue and swear at each other, I hear it has gotten pretty out of hand. Neighbors don't appreciate all that going on in front of their small children, it's a very family friendly neighborhood. So police come, settle it down, and leave. I stopped there the other day to do a repair in prep for renting and she was on the lawn bellowing at her kids. But she wasn't breaking any laws, just being obnoxious. I figured swell, I'm going to start showing this place, it's warm weather outside now, and any prospective tenants are going to see what's next door. So it can be very frustrating from a LL point of view, too!

Stunning table!! I thought of you when I came across this Cooks Illustrated recipe in my email today. Roast Beef Tenderloin Serves 4 to 6. Published March 1, 2009. From Cook's Illustrated. If using table salt, reduce the amount to 1 teaspoon. Ask your butcher to prepare a trimmed, center-cut Châteaubriand from the whole tenderloin, as this cut is not usually available without special ordering. If you are cooking for a crowd, this recipe can be doubled to make two roasts. Sear the roasts one after the other, wiping out the pan and adding new oil after searing the first roast. Both pieces of meat can be roasted on the same rack. Ingredients 1 beef tenderloin center-cut Châteaubriand (about 2 pounds), trimmed of fat and silver skin (see note) 2 teaspoons kosher salt (see note) 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper 2 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 recipe flavored butter (see related recipes) Instructions 1. Using 12-inch lengths of twine, tie roast crosswise at 11/2-inch intervals. Sprinkle roast evenly with salt, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let stand at room temperature 1 hour. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. 2. Pat roast dry with paper towels. Sprinkle roast evenly with pepper and spread unsalted butter evenly over surface. Transfer roast to wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet. Roast until instant-read thermometer inserted into center of roast registers 125 degrees for medium-rare, 40 to 55 minutes, or 135 degrees for medium, 55 to 70 minutes, flipping roast halfway through cooking. 3. Heat oil in 12-inch heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Place roast in skillet and sear until well browned on four sides, 1 to 2 minutes per side (total of 4 to 8 minutes). Transfer roast to carving board and spread 2 tablespoons flavored butter evenly over top of roast; let rest 15 minutes. Remove twine and cut meat crosswise into ½-inch-thick slices. Serve, passing remaining flavored butter separately.

Many edible plants are beautiful and a lot of them have been mentioned. However, amost types can go downhill and look crappy at a certain point. You likely could get away with more edible crops in the front yard if you are careful to remove any foliage that starts looking crappy, and then also by removing any plants that start looking awful from disease or once they are past their prime. I think that a person can get away with edible crops in a front yard much more easy if they keep them exceptionally well-groomed and well-maintained. Check out Rosalind Creasey's book "Edible Landscaping". There's a really old version from decades ago and then an updated edition from around 2010. Her edible landscapes are so beautiful that many times people do not realize how many edibles are mixed in with the ornamental plants. In the 2010 edition of the book, there's photos of different edible landscapes she designed from across the country, which is great for getting ideas. Her book series about rainbow gardening, i.e. The Rainbow Pepper Garden, and others in the series first got me started a long time ago on growing garden veggies in a wide array of color. I like peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, bush green beans, Swiss Chard, lettuce (especially when you mix in red varieties for contrast with green varieties), strawberries, blackberries, fruit trees, grapes and all kinds of herbs in front yards. Blueberries will work if you have acidic soil or create a bed with highly acidic soil for them, or you can grow them in large containers where you have total control over the soil-less mix in which they are growing. Squash plants can get big and gangly and flop around so might be best in a back yard or in a side yard with prettier plants in front of them. Icebox watermelons have smaller leaves than regular melons and are gorgeous as long as the plants stay lush and healthy. They produce smaller melons and lots of them. I grow 6 or 7 varieties of icebox melons every year. Bush cucumbers also would work well as long as you keep the foliage looking good (which can be a challenge in wet years when disease predominates). Because the cole crops (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, etc.) have such issues with cabbage loopers and imported cabbage worms, they likely would work better hidden away in a back yard. Eggplant plants are gorgeous if you don't have a flea beetle issue with them, and you can grow eggplant varieties that fruit in many colors: dark purple, violet, white, orange, green, and even purple-and-white streaked. Remember edible flowers too like violets and nasturtiums. Vining crops like sweet potatoes can be used as a edible ground cover. I just bet the HOA lets people grow ornamental sweet potatoes in their front yards, so how could they object to you growing edible sweet potatoes in your front yard? The only difference in the edible sweet potatoes and the ornamental sweet potatoes is that the edible ones were selected and perhaps refined by breeding for the quality of their tubers, and the ornamental one were selected and refined because of the quality of their foliage. To me, a bed full of edible sweet potatoes is just as beautiful as a bed of ornamental sweet potatoes. The sky is the limit if you're not in an HOA neighborhood, but with an HOA, you should expect to encounter some degree of resistance. It just depends on how militant the HOA Board happens to be. I think that if you mix herbs, flowers and veggies together in a pleasing arrangement, a lot of folks won't even realize you're growing edibles out front. I like to mix begonias with pepper plants, with the taller pepper plants in back and the begonias in front. The lighter foliage of the begonias and their pink, red or white flowers look gorgeous with the dark green pepper plants behind them, for example. That's just one example of how you can mix edibles into ornamental plantings and have something that is very visually pleasing. You also can grow edibles in very large containers mixed together with flowers and herbs. This would give you some flexibility because you could move the containers around to the back yard or side yard if the HOA starts giving you trouble about having the edibles in the front. There's a great book by Pamela Crawford called "Easy Container Combos: Vegetables and Flowers" with lots of photos of amazing containers where she has mixed in edibles with flowers. One of my favorite combinations of edibles in containers is to use dwarf cherry tomato plants and to mix in with them some lettuce plants, marigolds and something more upright like blue salvia. Add a small ornamental sweet potato plant or two, and the sweet potato vines will fill in the space after all the lettuce is harvested and removed. Swiss Chard in various colors is strikingly beautiful and will work with other brightly colored veggies and flowers. You harvest the outer leaves as they grow, so there's always newer fresher leaves coming along that look picture perfect. I probably wouldn't try sweet corn in the front yard. It probably looks too much like a crop for you to get away with growing it out front, but other than it, I cannot think of much else that would be objectionable to a reasonable HOA board. The problem is that some HOA boards are not reasonable at all. Good luck. Dawn

I would like to know if you ever were able to keep them off the goal. In my neighborhood the neighborhood kids broke our backboard. I am assuming using a some kind of gun or rocks. The police stated without us knowing or rather have proof who has done this, there is nothing that can be done. I am furious. Now, my son, who is 10 and plays on three different teams, is not able to practice. He loves the game. I will be purchasing a new goal, installing cameras, post private property, and write Not permitted to be used unless you are given written permission from the owner of the basketball goal across the backboard. Bottom line, if you are not given permission, you should not be on anyone's property. For some reason, these kids, feel they can do what they want, when they want. It is quite aggravating and very wrong, especially when you spoke to the parents in the neighborhood.