Day 2646

 I woke up about 6 and couldn't go back to sleep.  I played games instead.  That lasted until a little before 8.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast it was outside to work.

I started by hauling some concrete bricks from the archery target over to the deck.  Then I stapled chicken wire around the edges of the deck.  Ellen had to help because the wire wanted to roll back up and we had to fit it between the deck and the shrubbery.

Ellen started to place the blocks while I went to work on the gate.  There was good news and bad news.  With a little work I got the u clamps I bought yesterday to work with the plumber's tape.  The bad news was the lag bolts I was using to hold the two pipe pieces together didn't work.  I had to go off to ACE again to get machine bolts.

When I got back I drilled holes through both pieces of pipe and installed the bolts.  After that it was a matter of positioning the poles and tightening everything down.  The result works really, really, well.

While I was at ACE and working on the gate Ellen trimmed the chicken wire around the deck and stapled it down.  She had a great idea to use the small piece of chin link we had to cover a gap between the pole and the deck.  She worked on that while I put blocks under the gate.  I cut one in half to fit and packed everything down with sand.

At that point we were pretty much done with the west side of the yard.  The last thing to do was get some more blocks and put them around the edge of the deck.  I put some tools away and Ellen took stuff to the garbage.  Then we left for Lowe's.

We bought 14 blocks at Lowes.  Then we picked up a sandwich at Jersey Mike's and also stopped at the post office.  We got home a little after four.  I unloaded the blocks and placed them.  11 went around the deck, two went to stabilize the bottom of the chain link fence, and the last is an extra.  That finishes the work except for possibly doing a little more chicken wire installation.

I tried a couple of ways today to plug the big gap in the large gate.  They didn't work.  I finally found one that did.  I'll implement it the next time we can work.  After that it will be moving rocks.

Hooch has had a busy day.  He was stranded at the airport last night.  Portland had 11 inches of snow, the most since the 40's.  He managed to get a flight to San Fancisco and one from there to Austin.  He's on the second one right now.  It was delayed, but is due in at 11.  That's better than 12.