Multiple apostrophes

[das1404]

Hi
I happened to use (something similar to) this sentence recently:
Our cat was caught on camera in our neighbour’s garden’s blackbird’s nest.

I would appreciate some comment on the use of the apostrophe in this instance - particularly "garden's". My understanding of it is as follows: the nest belongs to one blackbird (- or two in which case it would be blackbirds' nest). The "blackbird's nest" is found in, or belongs to, the garden - hence the apostrophe in garden's. Lastly, there is an apostrophe in neighbour's - because it is a garden belonging to one neighbour.
It sounds quite convoluted and just wondered if it could be improved?
I just wondered, how long this can extend? Like...
Our cat was caught on camera in our daughter's friend's neighbour’s garden’s blackbird’s nest.
Does anyone know of any similar grammatically correct sentences, where several consecutive words possess an apostrophe?
Thanks
David

[Tdol]

You could rewrite it like this:
Our cat was caught on camera in the blackbird's nest in our neighbour’s garden.

You could keep going virtually endlessly with the apostrophes, though the poor listener would soon lose the plot.

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by das1404

Hi
I happened to use (something similar to) this sentence recently:
Our cat was caught on camera in our neighbour’s garden’s blackbird’s nest.

I would appreciate some comment on the use of the apostrophe in this instance - particularly "garden's". My understanding of it is as follows: the nest belongs to one blackbird (- or two in which case it would be blackbirds' nest). The "blackbird's nest" is found in, or belongs to, the garden - hence the apostrophe in garden's. Lastly, there is an apostrophe in neighbour's - because it is a garden belonging to one neighbour.
It sounds quite convoluted and just wondered if it could be improved?
I just wondered, how long this can extend? Like...
Our cat was caught on camera in our daughter's friend's neighbour’s garden’s blackbird’s nest.
Does anyone know of any similar grammatically correct sentences, where several consecutive words possess an apostrophe?
Thanks
David

I agree with Tdol. However, in the original sentence "blackbird" didn't need an apsostrophe. "Blackbird nest" functions nicely as a compound noun. That would also work in Tdol's restatement.

[Tdol]

I agree.