Have you discovered www.ioffer.com? For cases such as you mentioned, you could list it on Ioffer for free. Then if she doesn't want it, you've lost nothing. Ioffer also gives you a store for free once you've listed two items. It's automatically set up for you. Ioffer isn't nearly as busy as Ebay. Few people know about it. But listing is free and the gallery pic is free as well as the store. You only pay a commission (5% I think) when you sell. It's best to list a price a little higher than you want so you have some negotiating room. It's not an auction, like ebay. You state what you want and people make you an offer. Then they can lump several items together and make an offer on the whole lot. Try it. You've got nothing to lose but a little time.

Hi! I'm back for an update. It's been almost a year since I posted this asking for advice and so much has changed. The property that my grandmother owns is now in litigation. One of those 'golden' children is suing because they say it was 'promised' to them. So now grandma even has more of a headache because she has legal fees, depositions and an upcoming trial that she is having to prepare for. Of course her lawyer says that there is no case and that they will not win. However it cannot be sold until litigation is complete. My relationship with my grandmother has gotten much better AND she is actually enjoying spending time with me and my family to give my mom a break. She comes over and sits and watches tv with me and the kids make her feel like a million bucks with all of their coloring and 'gifts' that they make for her. My older daughter enjoys helping to fix grandma's hair and likes to help her open doors and things like that. Smothering my grandma with love has seemed to work in the last few months. Her relationship with my mom has gotten better. She is still pretty mean but she no longer calls the other siblings to complain about my mom. She will snap at my mom but quickly apologizes. She has seen the devotion that my mother has for her and I think that has really changed her. As the weeks and months go on, my grandmother becomes even more confused about things and that is very frustrating for her but she leans on my mom where this time last year she would lash out at my mom. She actually enjoys being around my dad too. Our family dog passed a few months ago and my grandma took it pretty hard. We didn't realize how attached she had become to the dog but she tells us that in the afternoon the dog would go in and sit in her room and watch the kids walking home from school through the window. They bonded which is not something my grandmother is good at. The passing of the dog seemed to bring her closer to my dad which has really surprised us all. She says I love you a lot. She says thank you to my mom. I've caught her calling my mom honey and sweetie which are not names my grandmother ever uses. One sibling has stepped up. Well his wife has stepped up but at least my mom has help now. My parents have been able to travel on three vacations which they had not done in over a year and they were travelers before my grandma moved in. My grandma stays with my uncle and wife for several weeks and actually misses home. That's right she calls it 'home' now. The situation is not perfect but it seems to have gotten better. With her acceptance of how her life his now, she seems to be much happier. She doesn't want to go to a home and so I think with the fear of that happening she has straightened up a bit. She still has those moments but she seems to realize when she has been ugly and shows remorse. She actually sits in the living area with family instea of shutting herself off in to her room. The dr's say she is doing well. She had a scare not that long ago but seems to be much better now. I'm not sure what changed my grandma but she is not the miserable old lady she was last summer. She is a much nicer person who allows her family to love her and help her. Just wanted to give an update.

Just to weigh in with the other perspective, I've been on the other side of this situation. We're also in a city of small lots (ours is 50' x 115') and our back lot borders four properties. Houses in our area are built pretty close to the property lines (some right up against it). A couple years ago, the owners of the apartment building that borders one side of our backyard took all of the branches off of the bottom 30 feet of some evergreens that were the only thing separating our yard from the apartment building. The trees were on their property, and they had legitimate reasons for taking the branches off (wanted to reduce maintenance with needles dropping and ivy), but I was still livid---not that I said anything to them about it, because they were well within their rights, and we have and want to continue having a fairly good relationship with their property manager. However, now the units that face our property all look right into our backyard, and sound and security lights travel right to our bedroom window. It's frustrating, though we've planted screening trees of our own and in time they'll form a new screen between the properties. I would have loved having a heads-up that they were considering this, though, as we could have been that much further along on replacing the trees. So I can see where your neighbors may be coming from. You definitely didn't do anything wrong---it's your right to modify any landscaping on your property, and you didn't need to consult your neighbors---but I can sympathize with their perspective. They are probably concerned that they no longer have screening or shade in their yards or homes, and I imagine they're worried that you may not have plans to replant. I don't think it's over the top or unreasonable for them to contact you with their concerns (although they should also have acknowledged that it was your decision at the end of the day, and should have been polite about it!) This is definitely not something to move over, though! I would just apologize (again, you had no obligation to consult them, but they would likely have appreciated the heads-up), explain that some of the trees were dead or diseased, assure them that you'll be replacing them, and share your landscaping plan to help assuage their worries. If you want to take it the extra mile, maybe get a little houseplant for the neighbors who've contacted you and take it over with a note that it's some greenery for them in the meantime, while your landscaping goes in. It will definitely blow over---our frustration has mellowed over the years, and we never addressed the issue at all, so if you address it in a positive way, I'm sure all will be well. But it's always nice to let neighbors know if you have plans that will affect their properties---just fosters goodwill and better relationships, even if it's things they have absolutely no say in anyway. Good luck!

A guy in my daughter's HOA tried to "ban" my vehicle from parking anywhere in the community other than inside DD's garage because it was an "eyesore." It was an inexpensive Ford, about 10 years old, but no dings, dents, or dirt anywhere. He was over ruled and forced to apologize to me, wherein he mentioned a couple of times how angry his wife was at him, haha! The last HOA community I lived in made us fix two shingles that appeared (to them) to be "out of alignment." Oh, did I mention it was the roof of our DOG HOUSE? Never again. Never. Again. Onto the topic at hand. I currently have a vented hood of indeterminate brand. I'm pretty sure it's the original hood in my 37 yr old home, and I'm positive it's never been cleaned (until I moved in). If you recall, I bought this house from hoarders who never, ever cleaned their house. Even after I paid people to clean the whole range (electric coil stovetop), including the hood, it is the most vile, disgusting thing I've ever seen. It's also frighteningly loud. I'm certain it doesn't pull up anything; not grease, not odors, nothing. When I remodel the kitchen, I'll most likely stay with a vented hood since there's already the hole in the roof. I would reconsider if there wasn't a way to use the same hole. I know this topic has been passionately argued over for years on this forum. And I mean passionate! But I've had the recirculating vents before and, at least in my case, have found them adequate (please don't execute me at dawn for saying that!). There are a couple of secrets to keep them working well, and I assume this would also apply to OTR recirculating micros. First, many of them recirculate the air through a charcoal filter. You have to replace that filter once in a while! :-) Just like furnace or A/C filters, if you never replace them, they get dirty and cease to clean the air; in fact, they make it worse after a while. Second, while you're at it, go ahead and clean the other parts too. If you rent, make the management replace the filter when it's due. For now, my "vent" is the two windows in my kitchen. I happen to think my cooking smells good, so the windows are basically to keep a very sensitive smoke alarm from going off. Russ, where can I order one of those pot roast pillows?