Jo, that's very cute... love to see when you done with project. Please post pic of completed garden!!!! -Chandra

most excellent! now, when you're done, just bring yourself down to my place. you know the way - i've already got the fence up, all you'll have to do is paint! :):)

smoochies,

dody :)

oh - and call me, paul's home, and either he or i can cut all that wood for you. won't take us but a little while, and it will save you lots of time.

srsly, call us, we'll do that for you. it's the least i can do for the loan of the dehydrator!

dodes

How pretty! Your colors are perfect! It sounds like lots of work but you're going to have a beautiful garden spot to show for it!

Susan

Dody, I have about 100 boards that need to be cut into thirds for the vertical slats. That's 200 cuts and would take me all day. And I am a scary mess with power tools. Would you like to retract that offer now? LOL!!!

Jo

pffftt!! you didn't get to see paul's wood shop when you were here, did ya? he's got a big monster table saw, and i'm pretty handy with a jig saw as well.

you're my friend and this is something we can help you with, why wouldn't i do it?

Beautiful, and the colors are great! I have a new yard to start from scratch, and your project is inspirational.

Thanks!

Well, considering I cut myself yesterday using an ordinary kitchen cleaver, the idea of using Dave's circular saw has been kind of scaring me. It took me FOREVER to cut the boards for my raised beds.

..So I would LOVE to take you up on the offer!

My plan was to prime and paint the boards first, then cut them, then paint the edges, but do you think it would be a better idea to cut them first?

You can hang on to that dehydrator for awhile still; I won't need it until herb drying season hits us or until I get a hankering for jerky ;)

Jo

Dody, I misplaced your phone number, and my brain. I blame the kids for both. Can you email it to me again?

Thanks!

Jo

That is going to be sooo cute! I cannot wait to see the finished product, will you post a pic when it is all done?

Of course I will! I LOVE to post pics of my garden and my kids! :)

Dody I just sent you an email too re LOTS of extra tomato seedlings I have.

Jo

Hey - Jo! Don't fill Dody up on Tomatoe Seedlings. What the heck am I gonna do with all mine that Seedmama doesn't take?????

Seriously, at lunch today I showed your project to anyone I thought would look and they were ALL awe-struck! You are indeed an inspiration!!! I'm already dreaming....

And yes, I think your idea of priming, painting and then cutting will save you lots of time. We did that with trim when we remodeled 2 bathrooms and a kitchen. Much easiler to just slather that stuff on long peices than short. Plus, you're going to have to touch-up anyway, so why do it more than once?

Paula

You're my hero!

We're working on our garden fence right now, too, but it's utilitarian, not at all gorgeous like yours. Now you're making me rethink the entire thing! We have a few thousand feet to do, though, so it would cost too much to do the entire thing. *pout* I need to come up with something to cute-ify it that won't cost an arm & leg. Hmm...

Definitely keep posting pics -- you ARE inspiring!

Oh, what coupon on Lowe's front page? I just looked and didn't see one. Sure would come in handy since we're going there tomorrow to spend a few hundred on fence supplies. Ouch.

Diane

Lowe's 10 off 50

EXPIRES TODAY ackkk run and make 50 trips beore they close. You can also clear your cookies, re-print, and just keep going back in. Desperate times call for desperate measures!
' http://events.lowes.com/Source/promo.html?cm_mmc=aff_gan-_-k1971-_-GAN_1150511740-_-Primary

Jo

Gah! Stupid expiration dates. LOL I'll check tomorrow before we leave and see if they pop up with a new one.

Thanks anyway!!

Diane

You are lining your boards up close together and are using a roller, aren't you?

Yes, you are right. It does look pretty. Much nicer than mine looked put up.

I just didn't want to paint. :)

Moni

Jo,

That's a gorgeous fence you're going to have to go with your already gorgeous garden. I look forward to seeing photos of it when it is all done. I love those colors together.

Diane,

It is hard to put up beautiful fencing around a large rural garden. It is expensive enough just to put up utilitarian fencing. I'd love to have a beautiful fence around the big garden, but don't think it ever will happen.

Our first fencing project after we bought this land was to fence 14.4 acres, and we had an existing fence on one side of it, which helped. It took us forever because in the wooded areas we had to clear a corridor of 50 or 60 years worth of overgrown woods and underbrush. It is just a barbed wire fence, so all it does is keep the neighbors' cows out. Our dogs and all the wildlife routinely go under, over or through it depending on the size of the animal.

Our big veggie garden just has woven wire fencing and likely that's all it will ever have.

I love beautiful garden fences but they aren't practical for a very large area, especially when they have to be 7' or 8' high to keep out the deer.

Dawn

Moni,

Yup, I am lining the boards up and rolling. But some of them are warping which is making my life very tough. I've started weighing them down with the posts in hopes that they will flatten back out.

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Also, they are sucking up the primer like CRAZY. I used half a can on 35 or so pickets. I feel like I am just pouring it on there.

I'm sick of this fence already. ;)

Jo

Jo, sounds like they're still pretty fresh if they're warping quickly like that. Then again, you have them on the grass in the sun so the bottom side is subject to the moisture of the ground while the top side is drying much quicker, baking in the sun. Great recipe for warping.

We made our trip to Lowe's today for more fencing supplies. Ugh, that was expensive. Too expensive so we only got enough for about half of the garden. We'll catch the other half next payday.

While there, I did think of a couple of Jo-like cute-ish things to do to my front yard raised beds with things we already have. I'll have to see how they work out in real life, though. LOL Jo, you were the inspiration so thanks!!

Diane

Diane I'd love to see what cute things you do!

Does anyone have any good ideas to get my wood off the grass so it will stop warping? My patio is teeny tiny and I can't paint there. The best idea I have so far is to get a huge sheet of plastic to lay them on and keep them off the grass but i'm unsure if this will work?

Jo

do you have a set of saw-horses? or something you can rig to work the same way? Ummmm.....like yard chairs that aren't being used right now? You could place them in a square....well kinda. Like 2 of them 4' apart with their backs facing toward your imaginary center. Then 2 more the same distance apart with their backs facing the imaginary center on the other side. Then place a random board between the ones that are "back-to-back". That would give you two long running boards that you could lay the others long-ways on. This will keep air moving all around them, but I don't know that it would keep them from warping.

Maybe this forum should be re-named "Oklahoma Gardening and Related Construction Forum".

Paula

Jo - we have a pair of saw horses you're welcome to use. You won't be able to work very fast that way but they might be useful?

Your fence is GORGEOUS!! And if I didn't have horrible tests this week I would have offered my babysitting services to free you up for painting.

And THANK YOU for the seedlings! I have everything planned out and just need to go buy some more soil and then they'll be ready to plant. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

If the boards dry quickly they will warp. If you have a garage or barn to put them in, stacked, till you actually paint them would be best.

Moni

We have a one car garage and no barn. Wish we had one or another because I could sure use the storage.

But I did come up with a better system.

I laid 20 boards out and weighed them down. When they were flat-ish again, I primed them.

Laid another stack of 20 on top of thiose, and primed that layer.

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

The bottom layer is keeping the top layers dry and off the ground, and the top layers are keeping the bottom layers weighed down and flat.

I have blisters, but I have about 100 boards primed and only 40 or so to go.

thanks for all of the advice!

Jo

All of the boards are painted and cut, and the posts are in!

It will hopefully be finished this weekend (the neighbors are going to take the kids for a couple of hours so I can work on it).

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jo

Wow, Jo, I am totally impressed!! I thought painting my little old garden shed was quite a project, but yours makes mine look like a walk in the park. At least most of my project is in whole pieces, instead of a lot of bits and pieces like yours, lol!! I used similar colors on my shed, except the blue I used is a little more aqua, and it sure is a lot more fun to look at than the sad army green that it was in its prior life.

Suzie

Susan,

Next year's project is to build a little blue and green potting shed on that concrete slab toward the back of my garden where the smoker and the fire pit currently are. They are being moved out of the garden, LOL.

Here is a progress shot. We are about 25% done with the assembly (6.5 sections done, 19.5 to go).

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Jo

jo, that looks great! i can't wait to get started painting mine....but i'll have to wait until "mr dody" is out of town for a 2 week stretch...cuz i think it'll take me that long to get it painted.

do you need me to come and watch the kids for a bit whilst you hammer? or would you rather have help hammering?

smoochies!

dodes

Dody,

Kelleyp and I will come help you paint. She'll be so happy I volunteered her ;)

It's so nice of you to offer to be a kid wrangler! Mostly I just lock them outside with me and let them play on the playset or ride their Power Wheels around the yard. As long as they aren't running eachother over I'm good.

We've been BUSTING our butts because it HAS to be done this weekend. I am getting a some guests from PA next week, and I need to stop focusing on the fence and start focusing on the house, which needs a MAJOR cleaning after being mostly neglected for almost a month while I worked on this!

Jo

I am having so much fun watching the progress, and I love the colors.

I have to say that the pictures don't even do it justice. It's uber-cute. I'll be helping on construction tomorrow! (And Friday as long as I get that class project done, which is going pretty well so far)

Hooray!

Wait, what am I painting?

Dody, if you WANT to come tomorrow (and only if you want to) Kelley is coming over at about 10ish to help...you guys can watch, chat, hand me boards, whatever.

The kids are in school from 9:30 to 11:40 so I have a NARROW window to work without worrying about them.

I make REALLY good coffee.

after I pick them up and get home (noonish) I will feed them lunch and work some more. So any volunteers to sit in a lawn chair in my yard and scream at them when they try to kill eachother will be accepted.

At some point I also need to run to Lowes for four more 1x4s for the rails...which I then need to paint....crapitty crap crap crap. I think I will do that later in the afternoon when I am pooped.

Jo

PS Thank you seedmama! I keep hoping someone will LOVE my fence, because the love keeps me going even though the going is really, really hard (and moreso with kids)!

Jo

i'm a great screamer -atter. just ask my kids. wait. no. don't. :) i'll try to get over in the afternoon b4 i head downtown to watch the DD win her 1st luchador wresting match. i can't believe i have a kid who's a "professional" wrester....but it's cinco de mayo and all. woo hoo!

dody

Jo,

It isn't even finished yet and I love it already. Your garden was already so beautiful and this fence really will add to that beauty and make your garden look spectacular!

Like Seedmama, I am thoroughly watching your progress reports and am looking forward to seeing the entire finished project.

And, by the way, I think Dody and Kelley are terrific friends to volunteer to come over and assist with your project. Now, one word of warning...don't you three break out the celebratory bottle of wine until after the fence is finished! We don't want y'all to get too distracted.

Dawn

Thank you Dawn!

Kelley and Dody are GREAT friends. I am so lucky and blessed to have them in my life.

I am not allowed to break out the wine bottles until Dave gets home ;)

He came home one too many days with me halfway on my way to toasted and put his foot down. So we came to an agreement. No drinks before 5:30 PM. After that, all bets are off.
Jo

Jo,
I don't know which one impresses me more, your beautiful garden or your ultra super cute fence. You are one hard worker and motivated, energetic mom!!

Suzie

Jo, It is looking great. Carol

Jo,
I was waiting to comment on your fence after final touch. But I couldn't resist to say -its looking gorgeous already !!! Your garden become more beautiful with that CROWN FENCE. I am looking forward to see pics of the finished project. Cheers -Chandra

Dody and Kelley are the BEST friends EVER. They totally rocked on my fence this morning for two HOURS, and even stayed and kept working when I had to leave to get the kids. We got an AMAZING amount done today!

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Jo

That is turning out so beautiful!!!!

Um, can you please mail Dody and Kelley to me when you're through with them, please? Feel free to include any unused bottles of wine.

Diane

"unused bottles of wine"

excuse me for a minute.....BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

..as if!!

Late to chime in, but that is one beautiful fence! But, I think the three of you had just a little too much fun, from the looks of it. Be sure to give us finished pics - we need to see!

Dody - your daughter's a luchadora??? I'm so impressed, and you must be sooooo proud! Which one is she? I have to really watch my DH when we're down there, especially when the luchadoras are wrestling. Still, it's sooo much fun!
Carol

i can't speak for the others, but i'm really enjoying my new friends.

carol, my DD's luchadora's name is "abuela khaos", (you can "like" her on FB), but the announcer kept calling her "grandma chaos"...she won her first match tonite, and it was the first time i've gotten to see her wrestle.

good times :)

I ADORE Dody. I cannot believe I found a spaz woman SO MUCH LIKE me right here in Jenks. And I met her here on GW, and she lives like 3 minutes from my house. Who is luckier than me?

And I was so happy the day KelleyP moved back in with her folks. We go for daily walks, giggle, post silly stuff on eachother's facebooks, and are just generally really good friends. And she is RIGHT next door. I have a gate from our backyard practically to her garage. We pop in on eachother a lot.

I must have GREAT karma, because after several years of feeling lonely and isolated after moving to the Midwest with no family or friends nearby, I have some of the coolest people in my life I could ever hope to know.

Jo

Jojo says:
" Who is luckier than me?"

uhh...ME, gobber! i've got you and kell's for friends. der.

(you know you've made it in 'dody-land' when you get a nickname)

Didn't all of this start over a little free rabbit poo???? LOL

Rabbit poo brings everyone together, didn't you know? (I mean, I sat in the back seat with a bag of it on the way to the spring fling, so...)

Working on the fence was fun, and I was really excited to go to my first luchador match! I like going to Elote but I hadn't ever been brave enough to go on any nights they have the matches.

I can't wait until the fence is done in a few days and we can frolick through it with sippy cups full of wine! (Because one must be careful when frolicking with wine and not spill)

Okay - distractions over, must get back to my project...