progress on the fence

If the back gates were still intact, I could call it essentially "done" at long last. But... I still have work to do.

I completed the southwest gate earlier today. The placement is a tiny distance off target, so I have to "lift" the gate gently to get it to latch. Slightly annoying, since I'll use that gate more than any other. But it works. It closes, it latches, and it locks.

Here's a view of it across the lavender bee balm, burgundy bee balm, and pink gladiolas. The bees are still happy with these flowers, and they've been blooming a while already.

And when I say that I "completed" it earlier, it's more accurate to say that I got enough of it completed to function correctly. Then the drill bit snapped off. *sigh* Luckily, I already needed to make a trip to the stores, so I picked up another drill bit while I was out. I came back home and finished off this gate properly later the same day.

Then I worked on adding the latch to the northwest gate that was already hung in place.  The first screw snapped in half.  The second screw stripped the head before it was all the way in.  The third screw didn't fare any better, but I stopped trying to force it.  I swear that my replacement 1/8" drill bit isn't quite 1/8" in diameter.  How can that be?

Still though, the latch connects well enough to stop a dog from getting out, so that's where it stays for the moment.  I'll have to try a slightly larger drill bit to see if it works better, I think?  I'm not sure what else to do, since the screws aren't working this time.

It looks nice back there with the ferns and hosta starting to show.  In a few more years, they'll look even better.  I've considered planting a vining rose on that fence to let it trail across the whole north side, but I'm not sure it'd get enough sun.  There's actually a lot of sun that comes in during the height of summer, because the sun moves so far north up here.  The evening sunlight streams through this area of the yard.  I might give it a try, just to see.

So... I still need to redo the back gates.  If my proposed solution (drill larger holes, then use clips on the ends of the screws to secure everything in place) doesn't work, then I'll have to reorder poles and start over from scratch on those gate posts.  :(

But the yard is almost ready to let the dog roam free.

At this point, I'm leaning towards finding a new home for the dog.  My cat has come downstairs twice briefly, but she still lives solely upstairs now.  I dislike that arrangement.  I want my cat back.