Workmen Repair Neighbour's Fence

I have been indoors for most of the morning. Working on this blog mostly. Did some washing-up and other things when I heard this noise outside. As we're used to strange sounds from one side, Gary doing D.I.Y., drilling, lawn-mowing, trimming, hammering etc., there didn't seem anything odd about it. But it being a Monday, it seemed even more odd as he would have been at work. I just thought I'd look out of the window to see what the noise was, along with some music, from a radio I presumed, and saw a workman in our garden, digging a hole (the opposite neighbour to Gary and Michelle) the bit of fence which has been looking very un-fencelike for months, perhaps even years, having been removed and Marion (the neighbour that side of us) saying (when I went out to see what was going on) that they were from the Council and were replacing that particular bit of fence. Unfortunately they can't do our fence. When, I wonder, will our beloved landlord get someone to do the work? He keeps on saying that he has a 'friend' who can do it. But what has happened to this phantom 'friend"? If he can't be contacted, surely he could find someone else to do the work. The last time a so-called 'friend'  of his did some work for him in this house, look what happened- it was when the washing-machine was plumbed in. The idiot who did the work had no idea what he was doing. He didn't know that the transit bolts on the rear of the machine had to be removed before the thing was plumbed in. They are there to prevent the drum in the machine moving about when it's being moved and when I came to use the machine the thing came away from the unit it was fixed under and when it spun at speed it pulled away from the piping it was plumbed into and caused no end of damage which included a more or less permanent drip which wasn't repaired until we got a proper plumber in to repair the damage. Just get a professional do do the work. Not some botch-up boy. Anyway, not wishing to complain about the work, but it would have been nice if they'd come to our front door and told us what was going on, as it was something of a surprise, to say the least. The gas boiler still needs a safety certificate. Another thing that the landlord promised to get done but hasn't. It's now well over a year since he took over the management of this house but not having a gas safety certificate is illegal. I suppose he's trying to get another 'friend' to do this. They must be Corgi registered so no wide-boy amateur can do the work, or is supposed not to. I wonder if he's aware of that. I very much doubt it.

The fence was completed. I'm surprised how quickly the work was done and how thorough the workmen were, apart from leaving some of the bits of the old fence behind in our garden. Did they forget to take it, or was it that they couldn't get back into our garden once the new section was built? Perhaps. But it doesn't matter. I just wish the rest of our fence was repaired and to the same standard. The new section looks very solid and secure and it will take quite a strong wind to manage to blow it down like the old dilapidated fence was back in the winter.

Autumn Takes Hold

It's been fairly warm and mild over the past few days, but today it seems a good deal colder. There seem to be more leaves outside the house. I went along the Redway towards the Academy with Carol today and it's like an explosion in a Corn Flakes factory as there has been a great fall of leaves outside the Academy. 

Daniel has gone to Alton Towers with his college mates. He's doing a computer course and seems to have settled in alright. I can't say I envy him as I'm not a great fan of theme parks. The bus he was going on left at 8.45, a little over 25 minutes ago (as I write this.

I can hear someone using a chain-saw or something outside. Perhaps it's Council workers cutting down trees or something. I can't see exactly what it is, but perhaps I will find out later. The dogs are running in and out of the house, Alfie, particularly, is barking, no doubt he can hear the noise of the chain saw. They bark at anything and everything.

I have now seen the workmen making their noise with whatever gadget it is. They have appeared over the back garden fence, in their bright yellow safety helmets, and busily cutting some of the trees at the back of our house and overlooking the Redway which runs to the rear of this property.

We've had to ring our landlord, or rather the agency who manages this property, as there have been one or two problems which need to be solved, to wit, the floorboards outside the bathroom on the landing. The floor is somewhat spongy there, meaning that whenever you walk on that particular bit of floor it sinks slightly.  It does need repair, otherwise their is going to be a nasty accident with someone falling through the floor! I have rung the agency and this morning their handyman came and has lifted the old, broken floorboards, revealing quite a  hole. As I write this the dogs are locked in the bedroom and he has gone off to get some planks to replace the broken ones. He is also going to have to sort out the boiler, as it doesn't work properly. The thing comes on but seems very reluctant to actually heat sufficient water for a bath or so that I can do the washing up. As winter takes hold and the weather changes we are definitely going to need heating, so it really does need attention.

I am attempting to write a novel. This is something that I have been meaning to do for many years, and I have had several ideas on what this might be, but over the last few months I have been making fairly good headway with this project. Do keep on watching this space for further developments. I'm really surprised how much I have managed to write thus far.