Fencing without swords

Well, there was a lot of work carried out in the back garden today. I thought I sweated a lot yesterday but it was nothing compared to the two guys fencing. At least it didn’t rain.

The morning started early with me taking the girls around to Sue where they’re staying until Friday. Given we’ll not have a fence for a few days, we thought it made sense to send them on a mini-break. Emma was all for it and couldn’t get away from me quick enough – she always rushes to see Pippa. Day-z, on the other hand, kept jumping into my arms, not wanting to leave me. This is not unusual, she does it every week.

It was then back to the house to meet the fencers.

They turned up just after 8am and set straight to work. They hacked and grappled, chopped and sweated until the fence was all gone and about half a ton of ivy with it. It was very strange being able to see into the Crazies’ garden (which looks worse than ours…thankfully).

But it wasn’t just that I could see into their garden, it was also the incredible feeling of no privacy. It’s one of those things you don’t really understand until it’s gone. It was a similar feeling two and a half years ago when the hedge came down between us and Dave and Gail. I felt like I was under the spotlight. Not that I’ve ever minded being under the spotlight, just not in my own back garden.

Anyway, that aside, everything progressed well as the guys slogged their way through the day. By the time they’d had enough, they had erected the first four sections (sans the palings), promising me they’d return first thing tomorrow.

As for me, my day was yet to finish as I had a delivery at 4:30 to receive. It was from MADE, the furniture company that supplied our media centre and checker board side table.

Two lovely Indian chaps delivered it, unpacked it and even took away the miles of packaging. (“They always have too much packaging,” The older guy said in a heavy sub-continental accent.) They left it on its side for me to attach the legs and fit the door handles.

The cabinet is very heavy but I managed to up-end it softly and carefully until it was in place, proving that my measurements were correct. And I have to say, I think it looks pretty damned good.

And, just in passing, I was looking at some old photos and came across this one of me and Nicole at work and thought I’d share it. It’s pretty much how we spent most days at Telewest.