WOW! We had both extremes of weather on Saturday. The morning had thunderous downpours and the afternoon was a lovely bright early spring deliciousness. Unlike last weekend, I was prepared for the weather this time!
We were out at breakfast when the downpour whooshed into town. This immediately made me wish I had stayed in bed. However we scooted over to the Farmer’s Market afterwards anyway, especially as there was going to be a rare appearance by a cattleman who specializes in grass-fed beef. I braved the rain and wind to go stand in line (The Mister stayed in the truck… ahem). Picked up a chuck roast (which I shall now need to learn how to cook), some Amish butter, and some more Brussels Sprouts. The sprouts are part of my current effort to 1) appreciate what’s in season and 2) trying to learn to like Sprouts de Brussels. Incidentally I never knew til writing this it is Brussels plural.. I always pictured it as Brussel. Moving on…
Wet and shivering later, got home and as planned due to the weather, devoted myself to domestic duties. Yay. The weather turned gorgeous and I opened up every single window in the house, all the doors, and the whole place had a delicious airing. More enthusiastic YAY. But I really wanted to be outdoors. That will come later. But Saturday was all about The Mister and his outdoor Saga of the Chain Link Fence.
Very early on in our courtship but after we knew we would be getting married, we had both decided that it would be wise to put up a fence between the garage and the house. It was actually something I had been contemplating for more than a year already. For me, this would serve several purposes.
1.It would keep the chickens more contained if I needed or wanted to let them run around
2.It would provide a more secure area in which to contain Crazy Daisy when company came over.
3.It would provide a GREAT place to grown grapevines
4.While my backyard is very private already, somehow it seemed to me like it would create an even deeper sense of Special Place-ness.
The Mister also wanted a fence. His reasons were:
1.To keep Crazy Daisy outside ALL.THE.TIME.
Could you put this cute little thing in doggy jail?
I shall spare you the details of the long and boring discussions that occasionally happen between two stubborn adults both used to having their own way. In this case, The Mister won out. And LOGICALLY speaking, he’s right and I think even I will be happier in the long-run with the arrangement. Daisy tracks in an enormous amount of dirt that I’m forever cleaning, she sheds horribly, there are the occasional flea battles, she slobbers all over the walls, she’s been a submissive pee-er ever since he moved in, and she is a maniac with guests. Granted, the vast majority of these problems are due to a mommy who either didn’t care about these issues or just looked past them. When you are single for X number of years you need companionship and I adore dogs. However I’ve often been too busy to train her properly (although she does a wicked “sit”!). So… The Fence.
We had waffled a bit on what type of fence to get; initially I wanted something functional yet pretty (think either picket or a wrought iron type-thing) but they were all either too expense or would have taken forever for two people who work full-time to install. We ended up going with a chain link. Some folks don’t like them but I actually feel quite nostalgic about chain link fences – they make me thing of summer days at my great-grandmother’s house. Plus they are relatively inexpensive and relatively easy to install (remember that “relatively” for later). The Mister quickly decided HE could put up this fence at minimal cost and it would be quite easy to do. I had a slight moment of panic at this announcement but kept my mouth shut (for the most part).
And I’m glad I did, because for the most part he was right. He had almost no issues. Oh you can see in the end results some flaws but it is sturdy, looks attractive, and does the job. Other than the fact that he made the space for the gate one inch too tight, which required a whole new latching system, it was fine. Oh and the end pole on one side was wide enough for Daisy to get through, but we figured out a solution for that quickly.
Man at Work
Things I see that I will like already
·I foresee sweeping the floors less = less cleaning time! BIG YAY!
·Since there were parts of the house she wasn’t allowed in, it will be nice to have all the doors open and not have to closed-up sections of the house
·No fear of the already-forbidden jumping & rolling upon the bed, leaving all sorts of delightful and wonderous things behind her
·My clothes will have less hair on them
Things I do not like
·I find myself wanting to sneak her in when I’m in the house alone. No, I have not done this... yet
·I’m suddenly aware of the fact that a dog will be running loose in the yard when I get bees. I need to research this. I’m inclined to think she will naturally steer clear of them but…. Hmmm…
·I feel like a traitor
Needless to say I had a sleepless night but she was quite good, she only had one bout of whimpering around midnight. Sunday we put out the doghouse which is immediately took to (I guess crate training had a benefit here) and we’ve hardly heard a peep of objection from her since. Of course
I am still an emotional mess but oh well ;-)
Time to shop for grapes!!!
Hey there studly...
