Post by Noofies on Apr 22, 2006 22:30:23 GMT -5
Oh man, what an afternoon. Three of us - two women, one man - put up 302 feet of fence. I had a couple different configurations in mind for the stretch from the house to the pole barn - one put the big tree between here and there on the outside of the fence, the other put the tree inside the fence. I knew that putting the tree inside the fence would use less footage than putting the tree outside the fence, so I suggested we start at the back of the pole barn and work our way around, saving the stretch with the different configurations for last, and decide how to do that stretch when we got there depending on how much fencing was left. So we started at the back corner and followed my basic outline, improving it as we went along, adjusting pole distances, following the contours of the wooded areas (I've left myself a 2' "maintenance and harvesting" walkway between the outside of the fence and the wooded areas, there are bulbs growing in those areas, and I'm going to be planting some of my hardy perennial herbs in there) and built a fence!
I hadn't been able to find the galvanized pipe I wanted to use at the back of the fence for posts to anchor the gate Chris was bringing, so we just fenced right on past where I want the gate. I can put the gate in myself when I get the poles. By the time we got to the stretch between the house and pole barn, we knew we had to put the tree outside the fence. Even still, we were 2 feet short of the pole barn, so we wired the gate in that spot, for now.
I'm going to add another sore muscle now, patting myself on the back - using just a 30' tape measure (without anyone to hold the other end) I'd estimated that I'd need just about about 300 feet of fence. Though I know I can always - and will, in the future - use more fencing, I'd really rather not spend an additional $80 for another 100' roll of fence right now, if I wasn't absolutely going to need it to fence the area I wanted to do. And as it turned out, I needed exactly 300 feet of fencing. (If I'd put the gate in the back of the fence as planned, it would have eliminated 2.5 feet from what I needed for the rest of the yard.) Chris has a 6 X 6' kennel panel with a gate in the middle that she says I can have; I'm going to replace the last bit of fencing from the house to the pole barn with that panel and then take the 2' gate and install it at the back of the fence, and then I'll have both a gate to the back part of the yard (the section that contains my compost pile and leaf pile [where, by the way, I'm going to grow my pumpkins]), and a gate to the side of the yard so I don't have to go through the house to get from the yard to the pole barn or vice versa. It's perfect. Absolutely perfect.
Once we got it completely finished we came inside, fixed ourselves a cocktail (well, Chris and I did, Robert - who said he'd drive Chris home in her truck if she wanted to have a drink or two - had more lemonade) and let the dogs out of their crates into the patio area. Then I opened the gate from the patio to the new yard. After hesitating briefly - as if to say "hey mom, um... er... uh.... the gate's open?! - they went out into their new yard. And they ran, and jumped, and danced, and leapt... Every single iota of effort that went into getting that fence up (not just the labor of fencing, but hauling the materials, getting dinner ready ahead of time, getting the house "company clean") was worth it to watch the dogs realize they had room, and then some, to do whatever they wanted. They were such a hoot that my neighbors came out to watch. My 6-year old friend from next door, who patiently sat on her porch and watched the entire fencing process, hollered over "Boy, those dogs sure are HAPPY!!!!!" Yes ma'am, they sure were. Robert and Chris (who are dedicated dog people) and I were all moved by the obvious joy of the dogs in their new yard. My mom (whose contribution was keeping the lemonade glasses filled, and helping out with dinner), who adores her own dog but is NOT a dedicated dog person, had the biggest grin on her face while she watched from the kitchen window. I think when she saw the dogs' reactions she finally understood why I've been so anxious to get this done for them. And my neighbors - the whole family, including visiting grandparents, and my first-grader friend especially - obviously enjoyed the dogs' delight as they hung out watching for almost half an hour, their laughter drifting over the yard.
Oh, it was a good day. A very good day indeed! I'm so darned happy...... I'm already so sore I can hardly move, and I'm sure it's going to be worse tomorrow. But I don't care. I have happy, happy, happy, TIRED dogs, and the ambient energy level in this house has dropped from an intense roar to a quiet, contented hum. And though there are always things to be done around here there's really nothing that needs to be done in the next 48 hours, so I can take the next couple of days "off" and just relax. Sleep late, have coffee and do the Sunday NY Times crossword puzzle while sitting out on the patio, watch the dogs play in the yard, and just take it easy. I've got to find a handful of crate pins, so I can stake down the bottom of the fence in a couple of spots, but that's not critical for now.
It was dusk when we finished. I'll take some pics tomorrow and post them.
I hadn't been able to find the galvanized pipe I wanted to use at the back of the fence for posts to anchor the gate Chris was bringing, so we just fenced right on past where I want the gate. I can put the gate in myself when I get the poles. By the time we got to the stretch between the house and pole barn, we knew we had to put the tree outside the fence. Even still, we were 2 feet short of the pole barn, so we wired the gate in that spot, for now.
I'm going to add another sore muscle now, patting myself on the back - using just a 30' tape measure (without anyone to hold the other end) I'd estimated that I'd need just about about 300 feet of fence. Though I know I can always - and will, in the future - use more fencing, I'd really rather not spend an additional $80 for another 100' roll of fence right now, if I wasn't absolutely going to need it to fence the area I wanted to do. And as it turned out, I needed exactly 300 feet of fencing. (If I'd put the gate in the back of the fence as planned, it would have eliminated 2.5 feet from what I needed for the rest of the yard.) Chris has a 6 X 6' kennel panel with a gate in the middle that she says I can have; I'm going to replace the last bit of fencing from the house to the pole barn with that panel and then take the 2' gate and install it at the back of the fence, and then I'll have both a gate to the back part of the yard (the section that contains my compost pile and leaf pile [where, by the way, I'm going to grow my pumpkins]), and a gate to the side of the yard so I don't have to go through the house to get from the yard to the pole barn or vice versa. It's perfect. Absolutely perfect.
Once we got it completely finished we came inside, fixed ourselves a cocktail (well, Chris and I did, Robert - who said he'd drive Chris home in her truck if she wanted to have a drink or two - had more lemonade) and let the dogs out of their crates into the patio area. Then I opened the gate from the patio to the new yard. After hesitating briefly - as if to say "hey mom, um... er... uh.... the gate's open?! - they went out into their new yard. And they ran, and jumped, and danced, and leapt... Every single iota of effort that went into getting that fence up (not just the labor of fencing, but hauling the materials, getting dinner ready ahead of time, getting the house "company clean") was worth it to watch the dogs realize they had room, and then some, to do whatever they wanted. They were such a hoot that my neighbors came out to watch. My 6-year old friend from next door, who patiently sat on her porch and watched the entire fencing process, hollered over "Boy, those dogs sure are HAPPY!!!!!" Yes ma'am, they sure were. Robert and Chris (who are dedicated dog people) and I were all moved by the obvious joy of the dogs in their new yard. My mom (whose contribution was keeping the lemonade glasses filled, and helping out with dinner), who adores her own dog but is NOT a dedicated dog person, had the biggest grin on her face while she watched from the kitchen window. I think when she saw the dogs' reactions she finally understood why I've been so anxious to get this done for them. And my neighbors - the whole family, including visiting grandparents, and my first-grader friend especially - obviously enjoyed the dogs' delight as they hung out watching for almost half an hour, their laughter drifting over the yard.
Oh, it was a good day. A very good day indeed! I'm so darned happy...... I'm already so sore I can hardly move, and I'm sure it's going to be worse tomorrow. But I don't care. I have happy, happy, happy, TIRED dogs, and the ambient energy level in this house has dropped from an intense roar to a quiet, contented hum. And though there are always things to be done around here there's really nothing that needs to be done in the next 48 hours, so I can take the next couple of days "off" and just relax. Sleep late, have coffee and do the Sunday NY Times crossword puzzle while sitting out on the patio, watch the dogs play in the yard, and just take it easy. I've got to find a handful of crate pins, so I can stake down the bottom of the fence in a couple of spots, but that's not critical for now.
It was dusk when we finished. I'll take some pics tomorrow and post them.
