Here's one they made earlier...

The other day I wrote that I drove a 2 tonne truck loaded with wood back from the home centre. It was a desperate attempt to garner a few curious comments but it seems that you all have more interesting things to wonder about. Never mind, I'll tell you about it anyway...


My parents have never been people to sit around and relax when there's work to be done. After a couple of weeks here, they were in need of A Project and so plans were sketched on scraps of paper for a fence for the back garden, complete with 3 gates. As it was, there was nothing to stop K going around either side of the house and out to the road, and there is also quite a drop at the end and one side of the garden too. Here it is, in its 'Before' splendour:


So after a couple of trips to the home centre, the workers got down to it. Driving the truck back was my sole contribution I'm afraid, but K was keen to help...

Tools were borrowed from H's dad and his cousin, who both live nearby. About the only useful things we had in the toolbox were a screwdriver, a hacksaw and a tape measure (which was a present from Dad in the first place, as was the toolbox itself!).

There is a gate either side of the house, and another in the bottom corner of the garden to enable H to take his shortcut to the bus stop. The gates all fasten on the outside (non-garden side) so that K will be unable to escape once he's out there.

As well as its enclosing and wind-blocking properties, I think the fence looks really good too. It also makes our small collection of plants and shrubs around the edge of the lawn stand out more as well, inspiring me to plant some more. Not that I have yet of course, but I am inspired to do so.

Mum and Dad have returned to the UK now, and K has had a couple of sessions playing in the fenced-in garden. I can close up the garden gates and open the sliding glass doors from the dining area out onto the patio so that K can come in and out freely. It's like having another big room added to the house!

The weather hasn't been as good as you'd expect for this season lately, but it seems to be improving now. Hopefully that'll mean more playtime in the garden soon, and a chance for H and I to do our bit to the fence - staining it. We have at least bought the stain, so that's a good start, right?

(Apologies to Mum and Dad for tagging this post 'things we made', as if I did anything at all...)