Building a Fence: The Long Weekend Phase

(It took me all week to get this written and photos uploaded and captioned. Notice the difference in the cherry blossoms.)

The past two weekends/weeks have been consumed with building our new "Henry Proof Fence" as we like to call it. The first weekend of April (also General Conference weekend for our church) was the only one my dad had available. So he drove down from Salem to help us get started. The days leading up to it were full:

• consulting with our neighbor (Pastor Don) on the actual property line. Previous owners hadn't bothered checking on this before they put in the existing fence in the wrong place.
  
• measuring and marking out the holes to be drilled (which also caused us to change our design plan)
  
• hiring Jack the excavator back to drill post holes and move brush piles around again
• order supplies for delivery on Friday morning from the local lumber company
• find straight 1x6 planking (not the more popular/available dog-eared boards) because of the design we're going for
  

As it turned out, we didn't need the planking that weekend because we only got as far as setting all 41 posts and screwing on the top rail. That was a feat in itself. My friend Sheila watched our kids on Friday which allowed me to work with my dad until Matt got home. Between the two of them almost all the posts were poured and set. Saturday was a lot of tag-teaming and drill driving with a piece of junk drill that stripped about every third screw. (My dad's trusty drill mysteriously failed on us.) Thank goodness Sunday was a day of rest! We doubled up on conference sessions and watched parts of Saturday's sessions on Sunday. I still have several talks to watch/listen/read that were obscured by needs of children and/or weariness.



The following weekend (this past one) Matt's Uncle Dougie drove up from Sacramento. What a lifesaver! The fence wouldn't have gotten finished without his help and expertise. He was amazing. Another essential factor was the help of our friend Chris. He came over on Thursday with a great Makita cordless driver drill with 3 battery packs, screws and some construction knowledge. With his help we got the bottom rail on and ready to go for Friday. Doug and Matt (with small Holly contributions when not chasing kids) got ALL the planks on around the entire 250 feet of fence. We're talking just under 500 boards! Whew. The weather was gorgeous though. Sunny with a light breeze. That evening Chris came back and helped figure out the two gates. He and Matt were out there by headlamp figuring out the details.

Saturday was warmer and more technical. We had to exchange lumber, get different hardware for the gates, choose a stain color, exchange the color, cut the planks down, remove the vinyl fencing (sadly not salvageable), get the two gates built/planked and pour the concrete for the drive through gate. I was mostly the babysitter for my kids and 3 of Chris's. They are 8, 5 and 3 so actually made it easier by occupying mine! I got some housework done inside in the morning before taking Henry out running the many hardware store errands while Linnea napped. Having the house clean and put together makes it soo much better when everything else is chaotic.

After a long day outside, Doug cooked an amazing grilled salmon dinner with cheesy baked rice, Caesar salad with homemade croutons, perfectly grilled asparagus, and fresh fruit. It was oh so wonderful. (One of his past careers was a professional caterer.) It was more than a treat to have him cook for us, especially after slaving away all day!



I can now let the kids out the back door without fear of finding Henry in the street. In fact, later on Saturday he ran outside without any pants on. I was about to chase him down then realized, "Hey, it's a privacy fence! No one can see in now. Run naked my dear boy! The sun is low enough in the sky that you won't get burned."

We still have a bit of work ahead for the fence to be officially "finished". Half the planks need the second screw in the top and bottom. The top 2x6 "rail" needs to get drilled on horizontally for the finished look we want. Plus staining both sides. That's 3,000 sq ft of stain. 10 gallons. Eeeks! The guys at Meek's Hardware and Lumber know me now. They even gave me contractor prices on the last few purchases we made. We still need to get the deer fencing up behind the 60 ft of split rail fencing. But that's a separate project. Oh and fixing the many punctures in the irrigation pipes that were busted and smashed by the various excavation and digging.....

Next project: landscaping the new backyard!