For reference my directions are as viewed from the street looking at your house. The first pic, that's neighbor on L? The scar on R of fence is where your shed used to be? R half of 2nd pic is neighbor straight back...L half pic your yard (aiming toward neighbor with shed)? The third pic I know what is but I cannot differentiate levels. Sorry. Looks like that lot high, too? The neighbor directly straight back (w/2 large trees) looks like he's been high forever as if subd. created that way. The neighbor on you L side looks like his fill might be much newer. His grass has a new-ish look. (would have liked to seen a pic aiming further left...I'm trying to see where the drain path goes.) Aside from the water, he's dumping on you, where's the rest of his water draining? To his front? And the guy next to him (past power pole) where's his water going (other than what he's putting on you)? If the bulk of their water is going to the front...which you might be able to tell from standing in front of their houses, I'd guess one or both of them has blocked your natural flow. Which says that going to a lawyer for a consultation to discover your rights and make a plan is the place to start. Someone pointed out, what will you do with major rain like hurricane Irene type rain...or the hundred year flood? Your original plan will put you in jeopardy if such were to happen. Actually, with your drainage blocked, you're probably already in jeopardy. just won't be able to see it until that monster rain happens. I'm not trying to be an alarmist, but I think it's important to know where you stand legally...especially, if you can get the cause of your problems to pay for the solution. I would try to find out every last fact about where that water is draining...how it's draining for these neighbors...get out their during the next heavy rain. Take pictures. Make yourself knowledgeable about exactly how all these pieces of the the puzzle fit together...before going to lawyer. You don't want to go with just a few words and a complaint...to which he says, "we'll need to study your issues. That'll be $500 for our next hours worth of work." Go as prepared as you can be.

i get the same vine growing along the edge of my yard near the ditch. i just cut it back with the mower and spray it with round up. this keeps it in check, but the only way i have ever gotten rid of it was to totally kill off everything in the ditch, but this lead to erosion, so now i spray a low dose to stun and slowly kill back the weeds.

Thanks Mark, Holly, bandjzmom, terrene, and again to all for your replies. :) terrene - As it turns out that was our last hummer shot for the year... they are gone now. Like most here we'll be watching for them again come Spring. We get that question a lot, about how we recognize Missy and Mr.B ... and distinguish them from their grown fledges or other blues. They are older than their kids... ha, sounds funny I guess, but it's true and easy to see really. And of course we observe their behavior and individual habits and character. I think this is kinda like having multiple parakeets or other pets of the same species that neighbors or friends can't tell apart... but the "owners" can. Our Blues are wild birds and free of course but they have been here with us every day (and several times a day) for nearly four years now. We know them well, and they also know us. They're not our birds, we're their people. Kenn Here is a link that might be useful: All Blue Review

The POs put in a slider to the back deck, where a window was. When we had dogs, it was used every night, middle of the night, and morning to let them outside. Our cat used it, as well. So much more convenient than traipsing across the whole house to let them outside. For our purposes it's handy, when coming in from mowing the lawn or gardening, to head straight for the shower and is also a shortcut from our room to the kitchen slider, if we're running back and forth. For our reno, I upgraded to a better version. I'm not any more nervous about this door than the others, or our large windows, and my side of the bed is right by it. All of the houses around us are single story, so a neighbor would have to climb a ladder or tree to look into our room if we forget to adjust the curtains.