May
The month began peacefully enough, especially for our traditional "Hell Month". There was some light planting in the garden.
And in the deck planters.
And even some gardening on the road at daughter Cathy's new home, helping her start her own traditions.
But then we had to face up to "Fence Monster - Part 2". Here we need to rewind just a bit. Many years ago when we installed our six foot high back yard fence, I made a decision which I have regretted for years. Here's the problem. In this pic from last month you can see that the deck and the new deck fence come out to the property line, which is about 18 inches out from the garage.
But, as you can see from this pic, the backyard fence on the west side of the yard runs directly back from the garage corner, about 18 inches in from the property line.
"How can this be?" you say. Well, at the time we put up the fence we weren't on the best of terms with our then neighbors (part of the motivation for having the fence at all). And I wanted to be able to access and service the fence when needed without going onto my neighbor's property (there's a gate in the fence toward the south end). So, we had the fence installed as shown. Over the years I realized that my reasons for effectively giving my neighbor a wider space in which to store junk, hold smoky campfires and hit baseballs and golf balls into my yard, were pretty flimsy. But the effort and cost to move the fence seemed prohibitive. Until now.
If you look at the above pic closely, it looks like the fence runs into a tree. Actually there are a couple of trees on the property line. Big ones. That still grow. Over time, this has required some fence panels to be modified to accommodate the growth. There has also been some heaving from root growth, giving the fence that stylish wavy look. Finally, it happens that our soil along the fence line is very acidic and tends to eat wooden fence posts. In summary, it was time for a major overhaul of the backyard fence to repair panels, convert to steel posts, and while we were at it - relocate the fence to the property line, correcting my bad decision of so many years ago.
This time around, having learned from our mistakes during the raising of the deck fence, we worked closely with the owner and installers (same dudes from the deck fence job) to avoid misunderstandings. Things went well. Here are some shots. First, staking out the new fence line (an important step we failed to do with the deck fence).
It was sort of fun watching the crew disassembling the old fence, sorting out parts they could reuse, digging out the old posts, sinking the new steel posts in concrete, and then adding new materials to complete the rebuilt fence. But the most fun part of the job was the fact that I was watching and not doing any of those nasty chores. And it turned out just fine. Here are some shots of the new fence in its new spot. In rough numbers, I think we added about 150 square feet to our back yard.
And one final shot from the deck, showing the new fence setting out from the garage just a tad inside the property line.
Now, to the observant among you, I owe a disclaimer. After all, this is the era of fake news and don't want to be dumped in with the ne'er-do-wells who indulge in such low-life behaviors.
You may have noticed that in addition to the fence, the "after" pictures show remarkable growth in the backyard foliage when compared to the "before" pictures of a week before. And the above picture miraculously shows a newly poured driveway. The reason is that when inventorying our photo archive for suitable pics, I realized we had never taken photos of the newly rebuilt fence. Bummer. This is the sort of problem you have when you are woefully behind in capturing recent history. So to complete the fable of the freshly refurbished fence, I had my partner in crime take the photos, well, today. I apologize for this hopefully rare breach of blogging protocol, and pledge to minimize such suspect behavior in the future. Now, on with May.
After the tension of fence mending, Nancy and I returned to the lake for a few days to reclaim the yard from winter. As usual, it started with a little skirmish with rebellious oak trees.
Once again we won the battle. But the war will go on.
There was also a little of the endless repair work on troublesome deck lights (see the Chores section of my previous post Notes from the Lab RDate 48.24 for a fuller review of my relationship with deck lights). Here's a shot of me faking a smile while doting on the little darlings. Note that my 20 ounce hammer is in full view so that any particularly pesky point of light will think twice about winking out.
Finally done with the spring chores both at home and at the lake, I scooted off once again for a few days in Florida to check on my mother and sister. Mom and I spent a day in the Gulf coastal town of Tarpon Springs cruising the shops and having a seafood lunch. Here's a shot of Mom quaffing a refreshing draft beer. No flies on Dolores.
And one of me sporting my new Florida chapeau. I was told these little straw fedoras were all the rage.
Here we have what I'd call a senior selfie. Mom is reminding not to get my finger in front of the lens. She's always helpful like that.
Back at Tippecanoe Village we spent some time in Mom's brand new screen porch. It faces east, so much of the year it's pretty much an afternoon venue.
Here's a shot of Mom applying her culinary expertise to steaks on the grill.
And a final shot from May of sister Wendy relaxing on the porch, displaying her Florida lounging look - wild hair and comfy sweats. Actually, she's reminding me not to get my fingers in front of the lens. She's pretty much as helpful with such things as my mother.
I'll break here and continue my review of 2016 with the very exciting month of June.
Grosse Pointe Charles
