Time to pack up and move to a new location. My stay at the cabin in Freeland had come to an end with the days of June likewise coming to an end. I’d set up a one month house sitting gig for a couple, Rick Ingrasci and his wife Peggy) who were off to vacation on one of the San Juan Islands to the north. This was a very nice home overlooking downtown Langley and the Sarasota Passage. I had negotiated a reduction in the rent if I would build a fence to keep the owner’s two small dogs from escaping the property. There was only about a 20 foot length of property that needed to be fenced off. The specifications were pretty much left up to me. The home had an existing railing enclosing the deck and patio that were a prominent feature of the house. It was elevated about 6 feet above the actual land that the house was built on.
I started by renting a post hole digger to dig five holes into which I sank five 4” X 4” posts. I think this digger is one of the wierdest contraptions I’ve ever seen. It uses a flexable shaft attached to the gasoline engine to turn the auger. It was not easy to use. Especially since these holes need to be sunk on a fairly steep slope. But it surely beat digging the holes by hand.
Little Beaver Post Hole Digger
One post was sunk right next to the edge of deck and would provide an attachment point for the gate which would give access to the back yard. All of the materials were of treated redwood. I next cut and attached two pairs of rails at the top and bottom of the posts. These would then hold the vertical slats that would keep the dogs from roaming off the property. And then I installed the 2” X 6” cap rail. This design very closely match that of the deck and patio. The last step was to build and hang the gate which also matched the existing gate at the top of the stairs going up to the patio and front door from the street level some 15 feet down the hill the house was built on.
Once the fence and gate were finished I needed to attach some wire mesh to the lower portion of the fence to prevent the dogs, which were fairly small from getting through the fence. You will also notice from the above picture that the fence ends next to some Blackberry bushes from the next door lot and it appears that they could escape around the end of the fence. To prevent this, I fashioned a “wing” made out of the same wire mesh that extended about one foot into the undergrowth. I’m confident that the pouches won’t venture into the sharp barbs of the bushes. I also filled in the open space at the gate end to prevent them from getting out under the deck above.
This was a fun project and it filled much of my time during the month of July. Combined with doing Whidbey Island Race Week on Tom Kerr’s J33, Corvo, taking leisurely bike rides, and hosting a couple of BBQs for my daughter, son-in-law and grand children from the beautiful and spacious deck overlooking Sarasota Passage, July was another great time on Whidbey Island. I wish I had taken some pictures of the deck with its explosion of color from many flower planters arranged around the perimeter.
Sorry to have to be leaving this splendid spot.
This was a fun project and it filled much of my time during the month of July. Combined with doing Whidbey Island Race Week on Tom Kerr’s J33, Corvo, taking leisurely bike rides, and hosting a couple of BBQs for my daughter, son-in-law and grand children from the beautiful and spacious deck overlooking Sarasota Passage, July was another great time on Whidbey Island. I wish I had taken some pictures of the deck with its explosion of color from many flower planters arranged around the perimeter.
Sorry to have to be leaving this splendid spot.
