i need a scythe

So, if I haven’t mention it before, I’ll mention it now. My vice principle lives next to me. It makes me nervous because I don’t know how much he can hear or if he can see into my house. Even if he can’t see inside my house, he can definitely see the outside. He complained about my grass to me today. Without knowing it was a problem or that I need to cut it I didn’t notice my grass. Of course his complaint came to be subtly and unexpectedly, “Oh, Adriene, how say (then he makes a cutting motion).” And I reply, “To cut?” “Oh hai hai, yes, cut, ehhhh, cut grass?” At this point I had no idea it was a complaint, I thought he was asking me how to say something in English, so I nodded and asked, “You mean, mow the grass?” “Sou ka…etou ne, cut the grass?” “You mean mow?” To which I added a mowing the grass motion, and he clearly did not seem to follow, “Me? You? Cut grass deshou?” more swiping motions like he was using a scythe “Uh….” I had no idea what he was getting at, so Nakamura sensei came to my rescue and initiated the complaint conversation. I was supposed to know he was complaining by mentioning the grass, and Nakamura sensei could easily tell I didn’t catch on. Some Japanese ensued between them and then she turned to me, “Adriene, do you cut your grass?” “What? Grass?” “Kyoto-sensei is your neighbor and he want to know if you cut grass?” Once again I asked, “Can I mow the grass?” “No, your grass is rather long and Kyoto-sensei has offered to cut it.” “Oh, what? I can do it. I am sorry.” “No, just say thank you to Kyoto-sensei.” “Okay, doumo arigatou gozaimashita.” To be honest, his grass doesn’t look that much more manicured that mine does. And I have only seen him at his house once, so this totally caught me by surprise. Most other houses have overgrown grass, so mine did not seem out of the ordinary. Because I have put so much time into making my house look better and be free of mold, the garden areas escaped my attention. Well he has yet to see how much better the house will look after two pay checks. I plan on re-painting the house and planting flowers and improving the garden. Looking back I should have handled the situation differently, I should have said, “Hounto ni sumimasen,” which means truly excuse my behavior. Something, anything, would have been better than standing in the room shocked without much speaking. He seems like a really cool laid back guy, so I don’t think my reaction bothered him. Plus, I am foreign so they do not expect us to follow Japanese social norms.