The Garden Fence - help and support in tough times

The previous owner also had a son who was a wannabe DJ, so half the kitchen was set up with decks and record storage.

The garden was divided by fences into the dog's area, the washing line area, the working on cars area and the pond area. It's a very small garden, and the pond contained an inch of green water and 4 crisp packets, the dog area contained large quantities off dog faeces. The washing line area, as he explained did not contain a washing line as they were taking it with them, but they were leaving us the hole!

He had also fallen out with all the neighbours and he was so well know in the area that every time we tried to organise a delivery we would be asked 'Isn't that Bennie's house?' We would have to explain that he had moved.

Some people like the milkman refused to deliver to start with. The Argos delivery driver and Sky engineer both knocked on the door and retired to the pavement until we had reassured them that he definitely was no longer around.

We obviously saw this side of him when he came round to demand more money, but he was only about 5'3 and although he was extremely threatening and aggressive I react very badly to bullies and I started to shout back at him.

Fortunately, before he could land a blow, he had raised his fists. My hubby arrived in the doorway behind me armed with a hammer, the carpenter behind him with a saw and the plumber with a length of copper pipe and Bennie ran for it.

He went straight to the police to say we'd been armed and threatened him but as he was known to them and as we were all working on the house we all had a legitimate reason for carrying the 'weapons'.

I rang the police and did my 'I'm a poor defenceless woman' impression, Bennie stupidly claimed that I was wielding a machete, actually it was a tea towel, I don't own a machete and all my kitchen knives were still packed away when the police came. So nothing further was done by the police, we phoned our solicitor so when he phoned her requesting more money she threatened him with a restraining order.

Oh goodness, what an essay.

Wow HH, what a horrible person, bet the neighbours were glad when you moved in!

We used to get lots of visitors at our previous house looking for someone but it appears it had been used as some sort of hippy commune for a while!

I really wish I had carried on with the repairs in this house, I'd had enough last year and said I would have the kitchen done later but I seem to have run out of enthusiasm for builders and mess. I'll get round to it soon!

I seem to have inherited my mothers talent for attracting the weird and wonderful. My Dad always said if they went in to a pub and he went to the toilet she'd have the local nutter chatting to her by the time he returned.

When I left my ex I moved 4 times in a 12 month, in an effort to hide my tracks

Elona, my goodness you are going through it, and yes they both were a nightmare, but it's in the past.

Monna, he only had one dog, I missed out an apostrophe and the dog was a very friendly border collie, I expected him to have a yob dog, round here we have staff's, shepherds and rotties that are in the wrong hands as in they tow their owners down the road and the owner thinks it makes them look tough, I just think it makes them look stupid. The dogs are all friendly if a little overenthusiastic. Certain breeds seem to attract a certain sort of person. One neighbour bought an Akita that was both powerful and nasty but he had it put down when it bit him when he tried to get in his own house.