February 2020. A storm rolled through and took the entire border fence with it — all 17 metres of it, flat on the ground. The timing could not have been worse. COVID-19 was arriving, builders were impossible to find, and the garden was suddenly exposed on every side.

So I did it myself.

Digging post holes, setting concrete, building panel by panel — it was the kind of physical work that sounds straightforward until you're three hours in and your hands are cramping. I developed trigger finger from the repeated strain, which slowed things down and made certain days genuinely difficult. But I kept going, and eventually 17 metres of solid fence went up where there had been nothing.

It was the first major solo project I completed on the house, and in some ways the most formative. I learned that I could push through something uncomfortable and come out the other side with something real to show for it. That lesson turned out to be useful for everything that came after.