That Old Fence has seen better days.

I have always pointed out different types of fencing to my husband that we pass by going down the road . I guess it comes from growing up on a farm with livestock fencing was always an important topic.

The fence that holds our home/yard together is beyond repair, and trust me I have mentioned it just a few times over the years. About 3 weeks ago Glenn says out of the blue, "well Betty I guess it's time for a new fence, how about you gather up some estimates and see what this is going to cost us"! I couldn't believe my ears, I have been waiting for those words to come out of his mouth for 6+ years and now the day has come. YIPPEE!

The next day I am on the computer doing my research about fencing, then I present to Glenn my vision of a fence, and to my wonder, we weren't far off on what we both wanted the outcome to be. After a some discussion I lined up 3 different company's to come out and give us their ideas and basically in a nut shell estimate how much is was going to cost.

It's funny to say but the decision is going to be made on who can come in with the best price for tearing down and hauling away our tired old fence. Materials and labor are pretty much all the same price on the 3 quotes. Don't you think that's funny too?

To cut down on cost I came up with doing part of the labor myself; after creating a "phasing schedule" showing, If I work 5 days a week for 1 hour (my wrist and back dictate how long each day I can pull off this manual labor) I will be done with the clearing of old dead tree limbs, 4 to 5 inches of pine needles and overgrown junipers trees and lilac bushes by the end of November. Yikes!!

Where do I start?

About 3 feet is all I can clear away in an hour so I think my phasing schedule might be a little off. The good thing about this is we don't plan on having the new fence built till spring 2014. I have found I am as happy as a person can be clearing out years of pine needles and giving old trees a hair(limb) cut because the end result will be something I have waited for, for such a long time. Who would of thought something like a new fence would come as such a joy in my life right now.

I guess I will start right here.

"STAMPING" = camping in your own or a friends backyard

Stamping means; camping in your own or a friends backyard. taken from stay-cation

This is our backyard in Central Oregon as you can see the sky is blue and it is memorial weekend. Everyone well most everyone likes to kick off the camping season by pitching their tent for the 1st time on memorial weekend. But sometimes the weather is just so unpredictable this time of year especially when the forecast calls for 70% chance of rain. My girlfriend really wanted to camp but it just wasn't working out or should I say the weather was to iffy. After much brain storming on Lisa and my part we came up with camping in our yard for the weekend and if the weather got to bad they would have the comforts of our house.

Lisa wanted to make sure she was "self contained", well except for the luxury of using "the Hosts" bathroom. I have to say she did a really good job in making sure she had everything she needed, her car was packed with all of their camping gear, just like as if we were heading up to the mountains. They decided to pitch their tent pretty close to the fire pit and under a tree.

Here she is, ready for a weekend of FUN! Glenn and I joined her and Kevin for most meals well all the meals actually. They had a great menu planned and enough to feed us too. So you might say Glenn and I made out pretty darn good. 

Glenn was a great camp host, he kept the firing going, and he was able to clean up the complete pile of yard debris we had accumulated over the years. I do need to mention that Lisa did bring her own wood, but I think Glenn liked adding more to the fire.

Rainy morning with spots of blue sky made for a nice day around the camp site.

Having some fun with my Ipad camera.

Just some more fun.

As I was saying the food was awesome, but there isn't anything like cooking out doors and Lisa is so good at it!

Glenn with his pitch fork, looks like to me he needs to "stoke those fires". I think Kevin is making sure his hat is on straight:)..I wonder if the neighbor across the canal enjoyed watching us all weekend as much as we enjoyed our time "stamping". 

Well here I am eating some strawberries by the hot coals, Juniper Berry also takes in all the delights of camping as you can see by the look on her face. I have to say, it won't be to long before Glenn and I will be pitching our tent in the backyard for the weekend and enjoying some "stamping" time. Really you should try it, it is incredibly fun and its good for you to get out and enjoy your own backyard!!!

                                                   "STAMPING"

                            its like a stay-cation but its stay-camping...Brilliant!