Am I strong yet?

Day 3 of building the back yard fence.

   Well, I got home late on Day 2, so didn’t get as much done as planed.  Made it home earlier today, so I was able to once again dig in and continue the back yard fence project.  Still haven’t started putting up anything new yet.  It’s amazing just how much work it is taking down the old fence.  Biggest thing is getting all the nails out, so the boards can be safely disposed of without creating a natural bed of “lock jaw”, waiting for some unfortunate person to come along and step on one of those old rusty nails.  Some day I’ll have to tell you about the Pole-Barn nail I stepped on as a child. 

  Anyway, getting back to the subjet, I currently have

Wind blows over back yard tree. Section of fence do not stand up to the wind.

over half of the old fence disasembled and ready for haul away.   Having the weekend ahead will give me more time to start working on installing some of the new sections.  At this point, I’m really getting somewhat tired of only working on old stuff.  I feel like I need to work onn something new, to give me a sign that I am making progress.  

  Of course lifting all these boards is proving to be a really good workout.  So far, I’ve dropped two pounds and I not sure, but the boards seem lighter.  Really thought it was working until my wife pointed out the first boards being lifted were the new freshly treated boards.  All the boards I’ve been lifting during tear-down, are the old ones, which being somewhat aged, do weight about half of what they did new. 

   It was a nice illusion while it lasted.  So, tomorrow , it’s back to reality.  Time to break out the post hole digger.

Started my power lifting workout today, didn’t mean too.

This is Day One, of the great backyard Fence Project.

   OK, so I wanted to start getting back into a little better shape.  I just didn’t realize it would be so much work! 

   Today was the day the lumber yard delivered a truck load of wood to rebuild the back yard fence.  I know have a much better appreciation for just how far is it all the way around the back yard.  You really do get a good sense of things after hand carrying on your back, like a pack mule, full sections of six foot high by eight feet long sections of wood fence sections.  In the gym they call it “Power Lifting”.  At home I like to refer to it as “What have I gotten myself into”!

   I have to admit that after the first couple sections, the misses did have to lend a hand so I could re-stack all the sections in back of the house.  I suppose I could have left everything stacked out front, but I really hate showing off to the neighbors so blatantly.  Part of me thought, “what if someone tries to steal some of my fence sections”?  But, after unloading, back packing, and re-stacking full sections of wood fence, I really don’t think I had much to worry about.  Now the 4x4x8 sections of posts and the 2x4x8’s would not likely have faired so well.

   Anyway, back to my workout routine.  I think the lifting part is going pretty good.  I’ve been able to stand and shuffle out to the kitchen tonight for a glass of re-hydrating water twice now, without much pain.  I can hardly wait to start removing what’s left of the old fence, so I can start digging in the posts for the new one.  One must really appreciate Midwestern weather for it’s ability to motivate a person to tackle those projects that most, only have nightmares about.  It’s a good thing it started getting dark outside, or I would not have been able to stop myself from going overboard on the first day.  It also helps if you don’t have enough nails and need to make another trip back to the lumber yard.