State of Disrepair

Since our move, one of the bigger tasks at hand has been makeshift repairing and replacing the fencing around the house.  The boards are so rotted that the modest repairs we have made do not stand up to Fletcher.  80lbs of puppy can chew through or bust through the boards.  It has been a continual contest of wills between Fletcher and myself.  Everyday I walk the fence line looking for new spots that he has worked loose or busted.  Just this morning, I had to "fix" an area that Fletcher decided needed to be his own personal portal into the lower field.  Most days the gate is open and the dogs can come and go as they please.  The gate was closed the other morning because of the work that we were doing down there and Fletcher decided that his help was essential.  Every job site needs a SweetMess on the job.  Doesn't it?

Most of the repairs have been fairly inventive on our part.  I wish now that I had taken some photos of my moments of brilliance in only using what was on hand to make a repair.  Pier blocks, 5 gallon buckets, a bit of wood (that is not rotted), and some wire goes a long way.  The seasonal creek has proven to be the weakest link.  So far, he has not breached the newest repairs.  If the creek did not lead out to the road or up into the woods where the bear (yes, we have our very own male black bear) is living I would not be as concerned. 

We have devised a plan for new fencing and have purchased the materials.   The new fence had to use the existing posts and not be expensive.  It's only function is to keep the dogs in the yard.  In the next five years, we will have to replace many of the posts and will at that point look at doing something different.  

In addition to tearing down the old fencing there is a corner of the yard that has been taken over by a bunch of beastly blackberry brambles.  Once the fence is down in that corner we will be reclaiming the landscaping.  The poor rhododendrons are overgrown and in desperate need of some TLC.

For now, we are enjoying the blackberries to their fullest.  Each week I make muffins and we are eating the berries by the hand full.  I have a freezer full of berries and in the next week I really need to make a batch of jam.  There are brambles all over the property so there will have plenty of blackberries in the years to come.  The best ones (in my opinion) are over by the creek.

The first photo here is the old compost bin.  It was directly behind the house and the raccoons were showing entirely too much interest in it.  So, we tore it down and moved the compost over to the garden area.  Eventually, we will build a worm bin for composting and the chickens (I can't wait for spring!) will eat all of the other kitchen scraps.  Please don't mind the rubbish in the photos.  We have already filled two dumpsters since May and a third arrived this morning.  This spot behind the house is the future site of my herb garden.

We have pulled 150 yards of fencing so far.  We started with the worst areas and are working our way around the yard.  We have roughly 300 yards to go...