A Successful Week

We got a lot accomplished this week! Here are a few of the highlights...

Last Saturday, as we cleaned the pool, we were lamenting about how the dogs are tearing apart the yard. Cubby likes to dig potholes everywhere, while the other two like to pee on every blade of grass. And of course, none of them have a "favorite" place to poop, so the backyard is enter-at-your-own-risk. The grass, what little there is, is dead. Weeds and clay decorate everything else. And I get the distinct feeling that the neighbors dislike our trashy-looking backyard.

Yet, we refuse to do anything with it until we accomplish other tasks first. Initially, we figured it would be several years before we got to the landscaping. This, of course, means having to deal with potholes, dog poop, the smell of dog pee (on the pool, because there apparently aren't enough trees to satisfy them), and clay and weeds for the next several years. And the little bit of landscaping we had already done had been destroyed by the dogs.

It was time to take back control. We decided that we could fence the dogs off from the backyard if we built a small fence starting at the back stairs of the deck and running across to the fence on the side of the house. This would allow us to work on beautifying the backyard without our efforts getting destroyed. Stefan had watched the guys with keen interest when they built the fence around our backyard, and he was convinced we could do the job ourselves.

Off to Home Depot we go. We did that Sunday. Mind you, neither of us have much experience with building things, and many parts of this project were completely new to us. I won't go into detail about the trip to Home Depot in the ghetto - it's too depressing. Just know that Sunday night, we came home with what we thought were all the supplies we needed to build a fence.

Monday evening, we covered up the pool and chicken-wired off the spaces between the stairs where Perry could get out into the rest of the backyard.

Tuesday, we used our new post-digger to dig the post holes and we set the posts in the holes.

Wednesday, we chicken-wired off all the other parts of the deck where Perry likes to get out into the driveway. We also poured and mixed cement for the first time, and we set the posts.

Thursday, we tried to drill the posts into the supporting post on the deck, but discovered we had the wrong tool for the job. So back to Home Depot we went where we wandered about for over an hour, with not a single orange smock in sight to help us. We finally settled on an impact wrench and brought it home, only to discover we neglected to note what size drill adapters it needed, so that meant more running around until we found what we needed. It took about 2 minutes to finish the job with the right tool. So we did that, and then we also assembled the supporting rails. Stefan also used a chain saw for the first time. He has all his fingers and limbs, I am happy to report!

Friday, it rained.

Today, we broke out the boards and our new miter saw and went to town. The job of measuring each board was given to me, and miraculously, I was able to measure them straight, thanks to the help of a measuring square. Stefan cut them, and used the nail gun to erect the boards. Then we set about the task of cutting the fence to make the gate. And by gosh, we have a fence that we built all ourselves!

I am so incredibly proud of us!! Yay us! We committed to doing something new, and we took a couple of hours each day to work on it, and our efforts really paid off. Granted, it would have taken much longer if we didn't have the right tools, but we didn't mind buying them, because we will use them over and over and over again. It will save us a ton of money in the long run, since we won't have to hire others to do our home projects.

All in all, I am very, very proud of us. It is so amazing to see tangible results, and it feels really good to accomplish something that as little as 8 months ago, we would have thought we couldn't do it. So much more is now within reach! And to think, all it took was a couple of hours each day!