Merlot - The Gardener's Assistant

Woke early today but I was in the shower when the roofer came to do the flashing around the chimney. A nice couple of chaps called James & Mitco. Ladders were up in no time & then there were tarps over the roofs of the conservatories (ours & next door's) & the tile that was balancing precariously in the guttering was down. So they'd been here just over 90 minutes when there was a knock at the back door. James was standing there looking a bit sheepish. Having been on the roof, he now realised that he would need scaffolding to do the job ! This was the feller who said we didn't need scaffolding ! He realised when he got up there that we don't have battening under the tiles but close boarding similar to a larch lap fence panel. Normally he would take some tiles off & tie the ladders in.to the roof but it couldn't be done here. He was very apologetic & promised to get us a good price for scaffolding. So they packed up & went home.

I had a call later telling me the price which, although reasonable pushed the total cost up by 50%. So what to do next ? 

Meanwhile I did a few little jobs in the garden interspersed with lots of sitting down....my chesty cold is hanging on...

Cold day with showers later in the day