Right next door

This is the surreal view from our back deck looking towards the neighbour's extension which looks like it is being built out of styrofoam.  As it is mostly wall along both our sides, we won't be looking right at each other nose-to-nose but the structure is alarmingly near compared to what we were used to.  We are growing a vine on yachting wire to obscure the view, ensure privacy and gain some shelter from the wind and western sun.  It proved impossible to obtain an appropriate custom or ready-made outdoor blind or louvred awning as the roofline and deckline are at different angles. So we reverted to the original landscape design using a creeper after having searched high and low for alternatives. Believe me, it has caused no end of anguish and deferred decison-making. 

Our situation reminds me of my mother's story about old houses belonging to my great aunts and an uncle in Rockhampton being so close you could hear the neighbour's scrape their pudding bowls. Indeed, the affordable houses in pre-War Queensland were built so close you could almost touch the neighbour's wall if you leant out a window.  Must remember to eat my Connoisseur ice cream quietly in future.