The Tale of the Fence

When our neighbors behind us removed the trees that were in danger of falling on our house (thanks neighbors!!!) we were left with a bare yard and a chain link fence for our viewing pleasure, not unpleasant but nothing very inviting to look at.

Mi esposo and I pondered our next step. This was our opportunity to put up a privacy fence on our side and effectively banish the door on the old fence behind us (that dated back to the original owner of our neighbor's house behind us) which would destroy the shortcut the neighborhood kids were using to go through our properties. YEA! Bad kids, you know better or you at least should have been taught that your actions are considered trespassing since you weren’t given permission to come onto our privacy.

Anyway....we plotted. We drew a fence on paper and then my father sat down and gave us a plan with pictures, drawings and a completed permit request for our township.

We were now going to build a 6 foot pine fence to line the back and right side of our property granting us privacy and preventing our visitors from landing in our neighbor’s yard chasing an errant ball. We headed over to the township building with Dad’s filled out forms and obtained our permit for the 6 foot pine fence. Dad stopped by later that week and dropped off the supplies, lots of materials for the posts, nails and wood but he changed it; instead of pine we were using cedar which is more durable than pine and would possibly prevent undesirables (mosquitoes) and be prettier (my point). Our response, cool, let’s put it up.


The very next weekend Dad went to work....

Dad in his bobcat and mi esposo to the left of the photo, both working hard.

Weekends passed and dad came over when he could, God bless his heart, and he put up the frame, sometimes with mi esposo’s help, once I helped out (I also did my fair share of bringing refreshments) and once he brought his buddies to help.  Dad dug the holes with the posts, came back with his guys to pour the concrete and then came back again to put up the frame, mi esposo helped him with the frame work too.

 ah, a frame, so close to having a fence!

Dad decided to get fancy and put up an esthetically pleasing fence for us so he curved the ends of the boards, sanded them down and then installed them.

Here's the loot, just the beginning.

The weekend the fence was to be completed, on mi esposo’s birthday, an accident occurred. While assisting my father in removing the string, dad’s angle indicator, mi esposo slipped, on one of the hundreds of weirdly shaped rocks in our yard, severely spraining his ankle. Although my father offered to find something for mi esposo to bite on while he righted the twisted ankle by force, mi esposo declined his medical assistance and asked for me his wife, to drive him super fast, my favorite chore, to the hospital. Two hours later, after x-rays and a consultation by a physician’s assistant, we were home, mi esposo was asleep loaded up with Motrin and given a diagnosis of a severely sprained ankle and tears to his ligaments and tendons and I sat next to him thinking, “poor thing, and no cake this year.”

Here are the boys in happier times.....Before the incident

And here is my boy after the incident.....Dad was sitting next to him on the couch watching a movie and keeping him company, bless his heart.

Not to worry though, Dad came back the next day and completed the fence, oh and mi esposo felt better to once he got the hang of the crutches. 

the completed privacy fence

Voila! A pleasing fence don’t you think but it sort of reminds me of a bunch of popsicle doesn’t it. Come on don’t you see it too. :)

Next on the list, building the garden portion, I think I’m going to make mi esposo a shirt that says, “I survived working with my father-in-law.”

THANKS DAD FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK!!!!!