It's not easy getting away...............

....when you have pets. Livestock is usually okay for a few days, as long as they have enough grass to eat for the time you are away. We've been invited here for the weekend, by our lovely friends and neighbours. We've been looking forward to it for ages now, Michael was coming to house sit so the dogs etc would be looked after. Then this week he drops a bombshell and says he'd forgotten and had made plans. So it was all off, or so we thought. A great mate of mine has saved the day..well weekend...and has offered to come over and feed the dogs and spend a bit of time with them. So the trip is back on but things are really that simple are they? Even with my mate coming over to see to the dogs there would be long periods where they would be locked in their room. So a project, some way down the 'to do' list has been bumped to the top. This project is the long awaited dog run!*

*I typed the above paragraph yesterday thinking that the run would be finished today, but it is a hugely ambitious project, so no, it's not finished. Never mind the dogs will be fine as they will get plenty of exercise when my friend comes over to feed/check/exercise them.

So here is what we are doing and what's been achieved so far......

At the back of the house is a grassed area with a sloping border behind

The area to be enclosed

Slope leading to door to dog's room, a gate will go at the top of this path
(hedge needs trimming!!)

Fence to go in along the right side edge of grass

Looking back up the slope
 
 
+ marks the spot for posts


After what must have seemed like a lifetime, Joe has got some posts in

Some posts done

The bottom end of the dog run to be brought up to the edge of the house. 
a gate will go in for lawn mower access etc.

The two posts closer together show where the gate will be

The door to the dogs bedroom 
(it is another utility area which also has a loo, laundry tub and a couple of freezers)

Looking from just outside the door

Before the posts could be dug into this area Joe had to move 
some very large and very heavy concrete pavers
 ...and that was what Joe had managed to get done by the end of yesterday.


I was labouring for Joe today and after a very long day we managed to get one length of post and rail done by late afternoon, it took best part of the morning for Joe to get all the posts dug in, so as you can see it was a very big project that was never going to get done in two or three days!

The rails are close together because a certain wee doggy squeezes through very small gaps!

Once we'd called it  day, we had to go shopping, it didn't help that all the supermarkets are closed on Good Friday! But you can always rely on Indians to have a shop open somewhere! Thanks goodness because I needed ingredients to make a cheesecake to take away with us. We're also taking a chicken and joint of pork (cooked) and I've made a huge pot of chilli con carne. I've packed a weekend bag, Joe is doing his as I type and all we have to do tomorrow is grab a few bottles of booze from the BAR-n and the road trip to Rotorua is on!

Have a lovely weekend however you choose to spend it ♥
See you next week (I don't think I'm taking the computer, sometimes it's just nice to get away from it!