The contractors arrived this morning after a 4 weeks wait, they are so busy, to replace the 12 panels of larch lap standard fence down one side of our garden. Luckily the winds are not around and not forecast for this week so hopefully they will get it done OK. I can't imagine getting a guarantee from them, so Carole is worried if the storms come back how will the fence take it. We have very sandy soil too and although the posts are going into a concrete base, with sand around them I am not too sure. The previous fence was up about 10/12 years.
There are a lot of shrubs down that side, not helping their task and Carole is also worried about those being her baby, but these guys must deal with that sort of thing all the time.

Having just read this, I looked out at my fences and one of the big posts 5" has gone.
Probably rotten, I suppose, oh well there go the snowdrops.

Trouble with a lot of contractors is they act like bulls in a china shop and view all plants as weeds and barriers put to make their work difficult. Finding a contractor who has the sense and sensitivity to respect existing planting is difficult.

Yes I am just looking down on them from my studio having worked on some oils all morning and wondering about that. They have done 6 panels and Carole is due back any moment now and no doubt will cast a critical eye over the work and more importantly the plants.

Well she's not unhappy and appreciates the work and their care. No hindrance due to the neighbours scaffolding in our yard because of a loft extension. They say give it a coat of preservative in about 18mths and it will stand up fine, they have used a lot more bags of ready mix concrete. Two different blokes coming tomorrow to finish the last 4 panels.