replacing the garden fence

i bought three lengths of 25' long fencing by 3' tall of 1/2" galvanized hardware cloth. i've no idea why this type of fencing is called hardware cloth, theres nothing cloth about it. its all metal.


then i cut off all the zip ties holding the old plastic fencing to the fence posts. it was a lot of zip ties.


the old plastic fencing, no longer attached to the fence posts (but still buried an inch or two along the bottom and surrounded with paver bricks).


the plastic fencing which is only a couple years old is having to be replaced because the critters are EATING it. i think its the bunnies. they chewed 8 holes along the bottom of the fence. EIGHT!


a holey fence isnt good for anything.


one section of fencing out, two more to go


flipping the bricks out


the ground was still soggy so i was sitting on kneeler pads working those pavers up and out.


molly decided to sit right next to me. puppy is in the background watching over his domain.


ahem! you have stopped petting me!


doggy kisses


molly laying next to me, supervising.


lots of bricks to flip out so i can rip out the buried fencing


here i'm sitting on the edge of my raised bed garden with my feet dangling, and molly had to come sit between my legs for more petting.


even with the fencing gone, molly still wouldnt come in the garden


its not really night in these pictures, but it was nearing dusk so the flash made it look like i was out working in the dark.

molly just laid down and watched me.


the moon was out while the sky was still light. a cheshire cat smile. my camera doesnt take pictures of the moon very well.


puppy was willing to step just past the fence posts, but still wouldnt go any further.


first section of metal fencing in place, buried, and with the pavers back in place too.


all the rest to go...


all along the fence line really really tall grass grows. but the bunnies can squeeze thru the chain link fence so i have to put up garden fencing along the chain link fence. and the tall grass grows between the two fences where i cant yank it out, but it still goes to seed and keeps trying to spread into my garden. so i sat and painstakingly dug the fuck out of all the grass along the fence.


half the fence done...


the other half to go


i spent a lot of time sitting in front of that fence digging and yanking. and eventually molly decided it was safe to come inside the garden and check out what i was doing.


and then laid down right along the fence in my way. goober.


i finally got molly to move out of my way and puppy comes in to see what the hell i'm doing.


and to get his ears scratched a little bit.


its hard to see, but the second section of fencing is up all along the chain link fence, buried, with pavers back in place so the bunnies cant dig under the buried fencing (they have, thats why i go to such lengths).


it just barely made it around the corner. this was where i started worrying it wouldnt be enough fencing. the old plastic fencing (which also came in 25 foot lengths) stretched out about two feet further than this one did.


the metal fencing wanted to stay curled, i had to unroll it and weigh the ends down with bricks to straighten it out.


the third 25' long fence section in place, buried, and with pavers back in place.


you can see its about 4 feet short.


luckily they sell that fencing in 5' long sections, so i bought another section and finished off the opening. then used a piece of the old plastic fencing to be the 'door' which i can flop open or closed. the metal fencing was too stiff to be a door. i tried it, but had to cut it away.


when i did get the last section in place, the pavers overlapped by just a teeny bit. but i had all the pavers tucked tight and square against each other so i had to go to the corner and back all the pavers out just that teeny bit so they'd fit. pain in the ass that was.


all done! with extra plastic fencing zip tied to the metal fencing under the door as reinforcement since i have a tendency to trip and the dogs will come rest their paws on that section just under the door and push it down.


this was done on many different days spread out over a two week period.

minion flash drive and sweetpea vs bell pepper

got another minion flash drive. i love minions




sweetpea ate an orange pepper. not with much enthusiasm though.

adding shelves

theres a little alcove alongside the basement stairs. i saw in my neighbors house they installed shelving there, so i did too. i went with just three shelves at first. but this year i decided i needed more shelves. so i added two more.

this is the space


first i had to cut notches out of the shelves so they'd fit tight against the wall


because i used this kind of shelving system


the view from the basement looking up


new shelves added


all my canning stuff is in one area, and i have a whole pantry shelf now for my canned goods. i like that. but as you can see, the top two shelves are a bit unreachable for me at their far ends as the basement stairs go lower and lower. the trials of being short...

bonus picture - i got a new stake for my garden! a doggy to match my doggies, with a pretty purple bowtie. i use the stakes to mark out where i bury the soaker hoses, thats why i have so many of them.

ham potato soup

i cooked a ham


then on another day i boiled the bone down into stock


i refrigerated the stock overnight, and scooped all that fat away


cook up some onions


peel chop and boil some taters


chop some carrots


the stock thickens up and turns jello-y when cooled




chop some celery


warming the stock back up


throw it all together and cook for a half hour


enjoy lots of leftovers!

crocheting is sort of like being a magician

helped mom set up a new board on pinterest and found these crocheting gems

sweetpea vs cucumber

half a tree and leaf velcro

here is a picture of the neighbors diseased, half dead apple tree. for some reason, in the 12 years i've lived here, he hasnt seen fit to cut it down. the entire right half of the tree is dead and gone. the tree has fireblight. it could spread to my pear trees. with the right half of the tree missing, the tree tilts farther and farther to the left every year. maybe he's waiting for it to fall over on its own?


first tray of stuff in the greenhouse!


bringing the outdoors inside! puppys fur is like velcro.


i gave up long ago wondering how all the leaf bits kept getting in the house. they simply hitch a ride in on the dogs.


velcro i tell you.


and i just chased puppy thru the house cackling and yelling "i'll get you my pretty, and your little toto too!" i gave him a bone earlier, a rawhide roll. and sometimes he likes to play keep-away with it. he'll carry it up to me, and then turn and want me to chase him. so i gave in and chased him around and around and around the house. its still raining outside and he's a bit restless. but he's so silly about it he just makes me laugh. and laughing while running turns into cackling. and cackling while chasing apparently turns me into the wicked witch of the west.