Mending fences

We have lived in our house for 12 and a half years. About 3 years ago we noticed that the horizontal rails which form the main structure of the fence between ourselves and our lovely Indian neighbours were rotting. Idleness set in and we did nothing. This winter, several of the vertical feather edged boards came off because the nails holding then to the rails had nothing to grip on to as the rails had rotted away. Finally today, I went off and bought timber to form new rails.

There are 8 panels in the fence and each has three horizontal rails, so I had to cut and fit 24 rails. This job went more smoothly than I anticipated. I then entered next door's garden to nail the vertical planks to the new rails. After 2 and a half panels, I am finished. I have hit my thumb with the hammer regularly, and in the last few minutes I hit it more often than the nails. So, sod it, I have given up and come in to watch the Cup Final, and I'll finish the job on Monday.