Neighbour Woes Again...

The idiot next door decided to put some paving slabs down alongside my fence (on his side), however, he seemed to think it was a right laugh to shove his mess under my fence and across into MY border before putting his own fencing panel back in place. Any normal person would’ve taken their paving slab offcuts etc away, but unfortunately I happen to live next door to a moron who thinks it’s funny to try to provoke me.

I guess that now he can no longer chop branches off my forsythia and chuck them into my back yard (after I chopped the tree down), or deliberately leave paint tin rings on the slabs in my front garden (after I told his wife!) he’s got to try to think up other ways to annoy me…

MAY 27, 2013

Preparing For Winter...

I took full advantage of a relatively warm, dry autumn afternoon to chop down the buddleia next to my new fence (obviously, using the best offcuts to try to grow new plants for next spring) and out came the Cuprinol. 

After carefully plugging cracks and knot holes with wood filler, waiting for it to dry and then sanding it down, I slopped (literally) the staining liquid over the remaining 1/3 of the fence so it now all matches. This new fence was very expensive so I want to do the best I can to preserve it for as long as physically possible.

The geraniums have been the stars of the show this year and are still holding on in there, despite their rather moth-eaten leaves. The chives have been marvellous too, and I shall definitely be planting more next year. A small buddleia cutting I plonked into the border, sceptical that it’d survive, has actually proved me wrong and is in flower – in October!

OCTOBER 13, 2012 

April Showers...

Well, it was bound to happen. The minute a hosepipe ban was announced the heavens opened, although in theory it’d have to pour down every day for weeks on end to provide enough water to refill the reservoirs and rivers in East Anglia. We’re now ‘enjoying’ the unpredictability that is April weather… sunshine, hail, thunder & lightening, rain and then more sunshine – all in the space of an hour!

I have yet to find the time (or a dry enough weekend) to paint wood preserver on my lovely new fence, but it’s still looking good. I’ve now bought some cheap solar lights and a few training lobelias for that border. In the past, I haven’t really been able to do much with it due to the forsythia, but now that’s been chopped down I can fill it up with bedding plants…

APRIL 21, 2012 

New Fence (The Final Chapter)...

After two long days I finally have the fence of my dreams! I made the decision to ask him to chop down the forsythia (I expect it’ll grow again); 1) to make it easier for him and 2) so I can put bedding plants in that border without the tree draining the life out of them. I kept the branches and stuck them behind the compost bin for any wildlife that enjoys that type of environment.

It all seems a little surreal right now but hopefully it’ll soon sink in that I have some much-needed privacy.

I will have to maintain it, of course, with an annual coat of wood preserver, but that’s a much easier job than constantly cutting back fast-growing forsythia branches.

Now all I need is a couple of nice couple of days so I can sunbathe………shame the weather’s turned cold….

MARCH 30, 2012

New Fence (Part 2)...

My Plan B fence chap turned up early and got to work immediately on removing the rotten fence panels. Although I’d pointed out during his initial visit that the compost bin that would need moving was actually FULL, I think he under-estimated quite how heavy it’d be. He struggled to shift it…..and then I heard coughing and wheezing. I rushed outside and found out he’d been over-come with dust from old/dry/dead ivy which had been lurking behind the compost bin.

I quickly sorted him out with a glass of water and a sit-down, and he eventually continued with the work.

Not wishing to ‘lose’ a second builder I ensured he had a constant supply of drinks throughout the day and that he had plenty of shade from my tatty old garden brolly, as the weather was close to the hottest March on record!

When he went off for his lunch break I picked up all of the mess so that he had a clean and dust-free yard to work in during the afternoon.

By 4pm the main posts were up and the concrete bases had to be left overnight to set…

MARCH 30, 2012

New Fence...

After many years of mulling it over I decided to have my old, rotten fence removed and a new, higher one erected; 1) to give me some privacy and 2) to hopefully put paid to the whole neighbour/tree-chopping saga. I cut back my beloved forsythia to make life easier (and cheaper) called a ‘friend of a friend’ who came round in January to take a look, and he said he’d ring with a quote. Long story short (!) he failed to get in touch and by March (after many messages remained unreturned) it was time for Plan B.

I was given the name of a local chap and I asked him to come round. He gave me a quote there and then and said he could start work this week – RESULT!!

MARCH 30, 2012