Fenced in

Something pretty exciting happened this weekend...

We finally got fenced in!

Now I understand if you don't quite feel the same excitement as I do, but did I ever tell you about the time my mother came over to help me garden and brought my two-year-old nephew along with her, and when we took our eyes off of him for .05 seconds he ran down our long driveway and up the road a little bit towards our neighbors, and a lady driving by pulled over and stopped and picked him up and pulled into the next driveway to find out who he belonged to, and while my mother and I about lost our minds with panic until we spotted him and Mum raced wildly to go retrieve him, the neighbor called the police and a county sheriff showed up to make sure Mum was his rightful guardian, a horrifying and mortifying and tear-inducing experience for poor Mum? And all the while I hid in the bushes along our driveway in shame, but made sure to take a cell phone picture for my sister, because running away is my nephews very favorite thing in the world to do and I knew she wouldn't be upset with us but rather upset with her son?

No, I didn't tell you that one? 

Well I'm sure you can guess why. 

Needless to say, I felt like fencing in our yard needed to move up the priority list of projects to get done this summer. Not only would it help keep runaway children in, but also small dogs who like to go into the tall grasses of the Christmas tree field that surrounds three sides of our yard and get covered with two thousand burrs that have to be picked out by hand.

And here's where my hero of a husband comes in, because not only did he give up his plans for a concrete pad in front of his shop to build the fence, but the STUD-MUFFIN did the whole thing by himself. In one weekend. Gates and all.

Across the front of our yard... (pic taken from the driveway)

And down the right side all the way to behind our shop...

And finally all the way across the back to the fence already between us and our neighbors, completing the giant rectangle. And yes, it may just be a farm fence, but technically we live on a Christmas tree farm, and out in the country, so it goes perfectly.

The tired but very-satisfied-with-his-work fencer himself (and Miley the burr dog).

I made sure to be super helpful and supportive along the way by keeping Russ fed and hydrated, complimenting his fine workmanship and strong muscles, and not saying a word of reproof when I heard him swear loudly after accidentally running into one of wood posts with the tractor bucket, tipping the whole thing caddywompus. 

(In fact I hightailed it out of there because it's a known fact that a man in the height of frustration over a mistake in a work project does not want to "talk about it".)

All was fixed though and after a grand final tour and much more complimenting and stroking of previously mentioned muscles, I was not at all surprised to find my husband sitting outside later that evening, still admiring the work of his hands. It's much the same way I feel after getting all the floors clean and then sending the children outside so they won't mess them up while I sit and enjoy the shiny glossiness for a good 20 minutes. (Ok maybe not completely the same.)

So, one more summer project down, one accomplished husband, one grateful wife, and one burr-free Schnoodle. It was a good weekend :)