What essential items can you borrow from your neighbor?
#neighborlyhelp #borrowingessentials #communitysupport
Looking to borrow a few household items from your neighbor? Whether you forgot to stock up on supplies or simply need a helping hand, your neighbor might have just what you need. Let’s explore some common items you can ask to borrow, fostering a sense of community and saving you a trip to the store.
Kitchen Essentials:
– Sugar, salt, or spices
– Eggs or butter
– Cooking oil or vinegar
– Baking soda or powder
Tools and Equipment:
– Screwdriver or hammer
– Tape measure or level
– Flashlight or extension cord
– Ladder or power drill
Remember, borrowing from your neighbor is an excellent way to build relationships and contribute to a supportive community. Just be sure to return the favor when they need a hand in the future. So, what essential item will you borrow from your friendly neighbor next time?
A conversation and a coffee. If you have a free afternoon, ask for her company if she can offer it. The more you get to know her the more you’ll understand what a relationship can offer you both.
Sighhh a cup of sugar there’s a reason it’s timeless 😁😁
Borrow a cup of sugar, return with a friend
She’s being neighborly. All you have to do is say thank you. There is no need to dissect her words.
If you go on vacation, ask her to take your trash bin back from the road on garbage day. Also take in the mail if you are gone for a few days.
In the summer, ask to borrow a gardening tool she has and you do not.
Does she have a recommendation for a decent restaurant?
Do either of you have a garden? Swap vegetables when you have too many.
Of course, you have to reciprocate.
She may be wanting to hear the same from you, careful with that. She may need a lot more than you can give. But it can mean anything from grabbing the mail when out of town to a ride to store if car broke down
My neighbor borrows eggs from my chickens….and she borrowed my battery jump starter when her battery died. She’s mowed my front yard before when I’ve had surgery. I have a cherry tomato patch in the front yard she’s free to pick from. She watches my cats and chickens when I go on vacation. Seems pretty balanced. Best neighbor I’ve had in my almost 25 years here.
Instead of trying to think of things to ask her for (I get she’s said that but…) try to think of a way to turn it around.
Bake some cookies or something and go knock on the door with a plate of them and say you wonder if she could do you a favour and take them off your hands before you guys eat them all for dinner. Or next time you’re headed to the market knock on her door and ask if you can pick her up anything. If she says oh, she was gonna go later, or has a big list, ask if she wants to come along and then you can both corral the kids.
Or next time you’re going to the park ask if she and her kids want to come along.
This is how you make friends with adults, heh
Someone to hold the other end of a tape measure (this is a real example of me borrowing my neighbour a few days ago, I needed to measure my big window, but couldn’t keep the tape measure ridged, she was out in the garden, so popped in quickly to give me a hand).
Anything like that, really
We moved into a lovely area, met a neighbour who had a very friendly dog that wagged and said hello when they walked by. My husband said if you ever need that sweetie looked after, we would take her. The neighbours were just walk by and say hello to, nothing more.
New Years eve a knock on the door from said neighbour who asked if my hubby meant it about looking after the dog. We said of course. Well his wife had a failing second kidney transplant and we ended up looking after the dog for about 5 months, give or take a day here and there when the hubby would return from the city as we live in a small community so specialists are 3hours away. He stayed with his wife, and we would send her videos of how well we were making out.
Over two years till she passed we looked after their do at a moment’s notice.
People asked us as we were walking the dog in the coldest winter of my life, how it happened since we didn’t really know them. I said we are neighbours. We did what any good neighbour would do. We missed her hair when she was gone. She shed so badly, but we loved her.’
It is being forgotten, this neighbourly thing as we rush here and there. Covid made it all that much harder too.
What if your car is in the shop and you need a ride? It’s what neighbors do 😁
Make something tasty like a pie and go knock on her door and tell her you need help eating it. I bet she’d love to have you over for tea/coffee and a chit chat, with or without the kiddos.
You’ll know when the time comes. Sometimes you don’t need anything then suddenly things change and you need help.
Invite her over for coffee and homemade blueberry pie.
Do not leave your kids with her to babysit, that’s not what anyone wants.
Sex. Drugs. An alibi. You know, anything.
If her yard is in good shape, ask her for advice! Also, ask her if she has good recommendations for service folks like plumbers, electricians, etc. And share the same with her, of course
I have old coworker that its now my neighbor and lives down the hall from me in my apartment building. About a month ago I was really sick with the flu and it came on pretty suddenly. She knew I was sick and was running errands. She called me to ask if I needed anything, at first I turned her down, and said I was fine. Then after a bit I changed my mind and asked her if she could pick me up some orange juice and chicken noodle soup since she was going to the store anyway, I didnt have any and that sounded really good. She got some for me and it really helped. I live alone, and my nearest family is an hour away. A couple weeks later she got sick, I returned the favor and got some stuff from the store she really needed and was too ill to get herself. Being neighborly can be being on friendly terms or it can having each other’s backs when needed. It was comforting to know she was looking out for me.
I had a neighbor couple in their 80s mow my lawn without asking them, for an entire summer when I was getting cancer treatment. After the husband died, I helped her with anything I could, just because I was so grateful. You never know what you could need, and helping in return made me feel good.
>What could I “need” from my neighbor?
An alibi
I’ve needed help with my baking. The recipe I had made 2 loaves, do you want one? I made two dozen cookies and won’t eat them all, do you want a dozen?
My neighbour got a pie today – they’re having a hard time and my husband bought the wrong pie filling. I’m picky, but the neighbours didn’t care, free pie!
That you’re bored and in need of a friend is the perfect reason. She probably is too.
I once locked myself and my phone out of the house. Was handy to be able to pop next door to the neighbour and ask to use their phone so I could call my partner
Whenever I make soup, I make A LOT of soup so I have extra to take to my elderly neighbors. It’s a low cost way for me to help them out. Then I let him get my mail if I go away so he can save his pride. Win win.
Most people would feel comforted if their neighbors were nice enough to say that to them. I’m a female and I live alone in a house and the fact that I’ve met my neighbors and I could go to them if I needed anything is incredibly reassuring. It’s just comforting to know that should there be an emergency where I needed the assistance of somebody.There are people around me who can help.
For instance, my water heater decided to bust itself open and send Water into my garage flooding it. Soaking everything I had stored on the ground in the process. I was able to send a quick text message to my immediate neighbors telling them i knew it was late, but if anyone was up and could perhaps spare 15 minutes to help me pull things out of my garage I’d appreciate it. Those neighbors saved me and my valuables that night.
Read a story on here where a person asked their poor neighbor for a cup of sugar or flour. Their child said “Dad, why did you ask for flour when we had some?” his response was something like: “They are always asking us for help and have to feel they are a burden. I asked for something so small that would not be a burden but would give them their dignity back for always being in need.” It made them equals in a way.
Go ahead and ask for that cup of sugar and say something like “I was trying to make some cookies and messed them up, do you have a favorite cookie recipe?” Every elderly woman has one I would guess. Then they feel valued and you have opened the door to a reciprocal relationship to build from.
My neighbor watches my dogs sometimes. Which is super helpful. But that’s an ask for when you know someone better.
I personally would “need” to have a cup of coffee or tea and chat about life sometime. That sounds nice. I imagine she’s got some great stories.
Last week I was almost finished making dinner when I realized I didn’t have flour, which I needed to finish the soup I was making(My partner had found weevils in the pantry and had purged a bunch of stuff the weekend before and I had completely forgotten about it). I only needed 2T. I texted my neighbor and she brought it over. 2 weeks earlier, she needed a 9-volt battery, which I was happy to give her. Another neighbor waters my plants when I’m out of town, and I lent him some books on a shared interest (he also likes to bring “treats” for our lizard). I have given postage stamps and quarters for laundry. We pick up packages for each other to make sure they don’t get stolen. We’ve lent out tools, helped neighbors move stuff, kept an eye out when they’ve gone on vacation, brought trash cans in (or taken them out). I don’t really know my neighbors on a personal level, but there’s lots of little ways we can help look out for one another.
I wouldn’t go with asking her to watch your kids as a first ask, especially if you don’t know each other well. Though I did meet one of my best friends when my new neighbor asked if she could help when I was trying to wrangle my tantruming <2yo while holding my 4 day old baby (yes, I handed over my newborn to a stranger) – the baby is now 23 years old and I talked to that friend last week.
Advice.
How to do something in the garden or tips for around the house.
One neighbour gave me some great tips on poison ivy removal when I asked if they also had some in their yard. They also told me a soap to buy that would wash of the oil if I came into contact with it.
Another neighbour is going to show me how they prune their bushes so that I can do my own