Criminal Damage
Baking chocolate cookies for the Fiancé, enjoying the warmth of the afternoon in my kitchen, feeling pleased that I was finally done cleaning and preparing for today. I saw a gang of youths, probably around 12 of them, dressed in Adidas tracksuits, all similar looking. Baseball caps pulled over faces, one on a bike, turned to look at me before they did it. Smiling as they did so, running through our garden, trampling with ease what it has taken a year to produce. Effortlessly over herbs they flew, through the chard and on top of the carrots. For the fun of it. To get to the bottom of the garden, running away from their crimes, whatever they were. They wanted to run. Over the fence panel already broken from their escapes before, to the fields and away. Thankfully others saw what I saw.
We'll ring the police and be told that there's nothing they can do. Nothing at all. How angry I am, my hands are shaking and a ball of anger swirls in the pit of my stomach. Now I'm scared. I also feel angry, how could they do something like that? There will be a fence put up, a deep fence, with trellis too and thorny roses. Beautiful but thorny nonetheless. I don't want this to happen again, the same youths who last week set a fire on the heathland and watched it burn, using our garden as an escape route.
We'll ring the police and be told that there's nothing they can do. Nothing at all. How angry I am, my hands are shaking and a ball of anger swirls in the pit of my stomach. Now I'm scared. I also feel angry, how could they do something like that? There will be a fence put up, a deep fence, with trellis too and thorny roses. Beautiful but thorny nonetheless. I don't want this to happen again, the same youths who last week set a fire on the heathland and watched it burn, using our garden as an escape route.
posted by VintagePretty at 3:57 pm
8 Comments:
I am so, so sorry to read this V. It makes no sense to me that there isn't some sort of accountability enabled especially if they are underage - they ARE underage? This sort of makes me think of "A Clockwork Orange". Dating myself here but youth running amuck and spreading indiscriminate damage is terrible and will only get worse the longer it is tolerated. This is a harsh lesson we are not learning very well here across the pond.
Oh Natasha, I am so sorry! How can the police refuse to do anything? Especially with a good description? I do hope a fence will solve them trampling your garden and I hope you were able to salvage all your hard work. In the mean time, you have to let that ball of anger go because it will just get bigger and bigger and cause you stress and tension and really, it can change you as a person. You don't want something to have that power over you.
That's terrible. I can imagine how upsetting such an invasion of your privacy, not to mention your garden, was - Not what you needed when you're not feeling well and trying to prepare for the big day.
I know that it's scant consolation, but at least it doesn't sound personal. As you said, your garden was just a convenient escape route.
The anti-personnel flora sounds like a good idea. The previous owner of our house had a penchant for spiky plants. Lots of brambles, hawthorn, holly, etc, and a yucca plant with enormousdaggers for leaves. Then of course, there's gorse.
Hope that you're feeling better soon.
Thanks for the comment, by the way. I think that your bees might not have honey bees. Perhaps they were solitary masonry bees, which can live in old south-facing wall. If there are a lot of them they can do damage. But there are about 250 types of bee in the UK and only less than 30 sociable ones, so who knows. Listen to mee - a bee bore already.
How awful. There is a name for people like that - but I will be polite and not type it here. Can I suggest the climbing Wedding Day rose as a thorny fence protector. Beautiful flowers but the thorns have to be seen to be beleived.
Let go of your anger it does you no good in the long run. I know it's hard. What goes around comes around and those people will pay for their crimes.
Sending cyber hugs your way.
Catherine
Oh, ohh, I feel so upset for you- a mix of sadness and anger at this mindlessness.
I do agree, a nice thorny bush and serious fence sounds the way to go.
I have read articles in the press where train stations and so on that have been plagued by 'hoodies' have started playing classical music to repel them!
I hope your lovely garden recovers, and your spirits also.
My heart goes out to you. Your poor lovely garden! Perhaps you should also invest in an electric fence wire to run along under that trellis? That may "shock" them into better behaviour! I normally wouldn't suggest something so violent, but hey! Those plants were full of life and the love and effort of your time in the garden!
oh Natasha - how awful for you. Just when you had been working so hard in the garden. I have had similar things happen and it made me angry, same as you. try to let that anger go, it will eat away at you, otherwise. Ever heard of karma? like my nan would say -they will get there just desserts (whatever that means)... focus on your wedding day eek! only 6 days!!!!! love always my sweet friend.
Natasha, like everybody else here, I am shocked and angry for you. What a horrid thing to happen just before your wedding, when you should be feeling so happy and looking forward to the future. LeeAnn's idea about an electric fence is a good one; anybody who invades another's private property deserves nothing less. I will never forget how sick I felt when a similar thing happened to us. Ken had just come out of hospital after heart and lung problems, and we heard all this noise outside late at night. I went out to investigate and found our letterbox smashed on the road, and our garden lights all pulled up and strewn up the road. We never knew who did it, and we never replaced the lights or the letterbox. We have a post office box instead - the thugs can't do much about that!
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