Fencing

Well this weekend the fences finally went up, and was it messy! Saturday started out soggy, but steadily got worse throughout the day. Trevor and Chris were able to get the auguring going while I marked holes and toted supplies to and fro. The supply toting upset Loki who found himself spending irregular amounts of time locked behind what ever door was convenient. The holes went in so smoothly that we were able to take the augur back early for a refund, and never needed the clam shell digging scoop. At this point we were all lightly wet, but okay.

We started work on the cement at this point, and things started to slow down/go down hill. The raid started picking up, and it fouled the bags the cement was in resulting in no less then 2 bags broken and strewn about. A fair bit of dirt was added as aggregate to our mix. We also made some alignment mistakes that resulted in the last post on the first side needed to be hand dug out extra (note that I already returned the augur and hand digger at this point.)

By the time we got started on the second side all the holes were completely flooded and we used the fish tank draining kit to suck clear them out. We also ran a foul of strange forces for the next two posts, and one of them ended up out of kilter. The third post in we were positively soaked, we had to drain the hole again and were fighting gusting winds. As we started to pour, the raid came down like a hammer. As we set his post, we realized that the skies had opened there fury upon us, and we were sodden to the bone. We collected up the tools that react poorly to water (including the plugged in extension cord sitting in the pool of water,) and fled to higher ground. 7/8 was all that was getting done, and no one was upset about that. We capped off Saturday with a team pitcher at Boston Pizza, (where they made Erin sit with a glass of beer that she wasn't drinking because of the "rules") and then Iron Man, which was amazing!

With the posts in place, Sunday went noticeably smoother. We started a little later as people recovered, and did a supply run to replace the ruined cement. We got the last post in and moved on to stringers and and slats. The day really just happened, we were certainly busy all day, but no major snags, and it all just came together. Our neighbors, Jodi and Nick, were out and did a great job, I dare say that Jodi's hammering became noticeably proficient and confident over the day as she nailed in nearly half the slats herself. Alex, my brother, also was out all weekend, through rain and shine, and showed he might just have the makings of an engineer in him. He wielded tools with skill, and without the need for direction and really helped get things done. Erin entertained Emma and Katie all Saturday, as well as running endless errands, keeping us fed, entertaining a parade of visitors, and swung a few hammer throws herself. Although she failed at knot tying.

The traditional blood sacrifice was provided by Trevor who cut on a big splinter, and Nick who took a chunk of wood to the hand after it got kicked by the saw. The finished job looks fantastic. Here are some image highlights, and you can see the rest over at picasa.