Finished, For Now

We have spent yesterday and today doing the final work on the fence project... at least for now.

We needed the first of the final three panels to totally block
the neighbor's yard from our view on the patio.

Yesterday we put in the last three panels of fence on the south side, adding a fourth corner panel out of necessity.  We ventured out on the coldest work day that we have encountered yet.   My hands were frozen after being outside, in gloves, for just a few minutes.  We worked together to put up the first two eight-foot panels with no problem.

The first of the final three is up.  Note that we had
to raise the fence at this point as the yard raises
as we approach the front of the house.

With that first panel complete, the view from
our patio is much improved!  No more
neighbor's eyes watching us on the patio.

With the third panel in, we also "turned the corner"
to provide a gate post on the south side of the house.

Then we got to the last panel.  Rick looked at the situation and decided that if we were going to connect the gate and have it open to the south, we needed to add a post just a few inches away from our corner post.  To do that, we had to expand the already dug corner post hole so that it would accommodate both the corner post and the gate post.  That took a bit of time and maneuvering, but in the end, it all worked out.  The gate opening only has a single fence slat in it, but it was what we needed in order to add structure inside the post so we could hang the gate hinge on it.

Once we were finished with the southern fence, we decided to quit for now.  Rick will have surgery a week from today, and we did not want to rush adding the other parts of the fence necessary for the gates on both sides.  What we have now will suffice until we can get to the gates at the end of the summer.

Rick dumps another load of black dirt on the mostly clay fill.

This morning, Rick was out bright and early working with the piles of dirt left over from the holes we dug.  We knew we needed the dirt to fill in the indentation in the back yard, and the clay and dirt filled it in quite well.  However, we were left with an unsightly part of the yard that badly needed black dirt in anticipation for sod or grass seed, so off Rick went to get some black dirt.

With the yard filled in and the black dirt in place, we are ready
to discover how good we are at planting grass.

After a few more hours of shoveling dirt and spreading it around, we now are ready to add the seed or sod to the back yard.  It will take some more money and effort to get it to where we can enjoy it, but we have a good start... and today is only May 12!