Two Down, One to Go

We almost got away from our fencing obligations yesterday, but then Rick caved in to the pressures of guilt by digging two post holes in preparation for today.

Yesterday started out well and fence-free.  We agreed to help our nephew Jon set up a classroom full of computers for his school in Seminole.  All started well until we ran into some licensing issues, so our cyber adventure was halted just before lunch.  All was not lost, however, since we had a chance to see Jon and to have lunch with him at Culver's Restaurant.  We really had an enjoyable morning just doing something different, and we will be happy to return to help him again if he can get the computer issues resolved.  He is new to teaching and to computers in classrooms.  We have been there and done that, so we were not surprised that he encountered a few more hoops to jump through before his computer classroom can be set and ready for the students.

After lunch, we ran some errands and then returned to Dunedin.  With "nothing to do," Rick decided to dig the next two holes for our fencing project.  We had one panel to finish on the north side, and one pole to complete the wall on the other side of the gate on the south side.

Speaking of the south side, we were not to happy to see that while we were gone north, our neighbors wrapped some Christmas lights around two of our fence posts for the holiday season.  When I saw them, I immediately went to their side of the fence and removed them.  I suspect that they may have hung lights all along our fence (based on dirt and dirty fingerprint patterns), but I have no proof and the aforementioned evidence may actually have been OUR dirty fingerprints. No harm was done --this time-- but we do not want them to hang ANYTHING on our fence and certainly not hot lights that can potentially burn holes into our fence posts!

Today we started on the north side of the property.  That post was fairly easy, although I have to admit that I thought the actual fence would go out just a bit more.  Measuring an area and envisioning where the fence will go is different than the reality of seeing the post and wall erected.  I wish that we had a few more inches of fence going toward the front of the house (west), but I guess it is impossible to stretch a vinyl fence.  Eight feet is eight feet.  At any rate, the last full panel is now complete on the north side.

The last full panel allows the fence to come just a little bit
further than the HVAC unit.  I will be happy to get that
behind the fence and out of view from the street.

We had already turned the corner on the south side of the property, so our last post had to go toward supporting the final small section against the house and toward providing a place for the gate latch to reside.  This post was a bit tricky because we had to leave enough room for the full 5' 6" gate while still being far enough from the house to avoid the gutter drainage pipe that we installed last year.  Thankfully, Rick dug carefully and we never hit the drainage pipe (although I suspect that we were very, very close).  In the end, the brackets were screwed to the wall, the panels were in place, and the post was secured in the ground with lots of cement.

The last post and panel on the south side
complete the opening for the gate.

We will wait a few days for the cement to cure well and then go back to hang the gate.

Once we hang the gate, the south side will be complete.

On the north side, we still have to dig one more hole for one more post.  That post, like the one we did today, will hold the panels next to the wall and will support the latch side of the north-side gate.  Two posts down, and one to go.

We both thought that getting active again really felt good. Although Rick's leg and my shoulder did not bother us today, we are both a bit stiff tonight. (Couldn't be old age, could it?)  My neck hurts way more than my shoulder, and I wonder if my head bouncing off the ground when I fell a month ago did not give me a little whiplash.  At any rate, a little heat and a rest on the sofa are in order for this evening.

We are pleased with our progress today.  I think that both of us are ready to be finished with building this fence.  Then maybe we can turn our attention to a little landscaping to make Gladys as beautiful on the outside as she is on the inside.