Fence Project

Since we have moved into our house back in 2004, we knew our fence needed replacing.  Big time!  Its horrible looking, I'm sure the neighbors hate it.  It's rotting and falling over.  We've had to do ugly repairs on it to keep the dogs from sneaking out.  But so much else needed to be done our house that the fence always fell to the way side...windows, bathrooms, flooring, walls, electrical and plumbing...our house was a HUGE fixer upper.  Well, we're finally getting around to it.  John is a big time researcher and always has a very detailed, well thought out plan.  Drives me crazy!  I want to start something NOW, then figure it out as we go.  I can't tell you how close I came to just going outside and tearing the existing fence down, which I knew would force us to then finish the project.  (True, we could have hired someone but fences are so expensive!)

My dad is currently between jobs and if you know my dad, you know his endless energy.  He kept telling me that we HAVE to get started on the fence because time is going to waste before he starts a new job!  John and I sort of interpreted this as..."Oh, my dad needs something to do poor guy.  Okay we'll go buy the materials and put him to work."  We didn't think WE would be working on it.  John and my dad went out one night after John got home from work and bought all the wood and supplies.  Keep in mind, this is a huge thing for me b/c I literally count the minutes until John gets home not only so I can see him but so he can play with the baby.  He is a much better "player" than I am.  Jack and I usually just stare at each other not knowing what to do.  Anywho...John and my dad were busy with buying fence stuff all night so it was just me and Jack.

Where did my dad go!?!?  After the supplies were bought, he dissapeared.  He kept saying he was going to come over, but never did.  Was this just his way to push John into just getting started?  I guess we'll never know!  But it DID work...

Day 1 of fence building went slow.  Tim, John's brother, came over with Popeye (his dog) and they got to work.  Only, it involved a lot of standing around looking at the ground, wondering where to start?  Tim realized how John can't stay focused on one task for more than five minutes.  As soon as John saw Tim working on a task that looked more fun/easier/whatever, John would go take over and Tim would be left trying to figure the next step.  Maybe Tim understands why I'm so bossy now.  Anywho...

Day 2 rolled around and things really got moving.  Jason came over to help and the three of them made lots of progress.  After 3 total days of work, five posts have been set.  Only 16 more to go!  That's on the other side of the house though so...we'll leave it to later...until my dad makes John buy the supplies and takes off again.  Yes DAD you're one of my followers who never reads my blog...this is a test to see if he actually does read my blog because I know he'll say, I didn't do that!  Hey I'll come over and help!  I think John fired him from the job though.  Anyway...

Here are some pictures from the job.  Jack and I stood around observing but Jack did get his hands dirty with the level.

Before:

And here is what we've done so far:

On a break....I thought this pose of Jason's was hilarious...Bailey wouldnt stop licking his legs and the other two wouldnt stop playing at his feet.

I don't think Jack enjoys this work...

Our makeshift temporary fence...

The neighbor playing...