The kids are all in school the full day this year, so I'm finding that I have some time to fill during the day. (I'm looking for a part time job, but don't have anything yet.) Meanwhile, I have been catching up on projects and doing some yardwork. For a while, I have wanted to take out a portion of this chain link fence that is in our yard. I think it was meant to create a separate garden area, or maybe the previous owner intended to have trees and vines growing along it (which it does). It's not great for kids wanting space to play though. What we would like to do is open up the area and extend the pavement so they have more room to play basketball. But, we weren't sure how to get the fence out and hadn't put more than a passing thought into the project.
I was looking out the window one day and decided to see if I could actually get it out. I had no idea HOW, but I figured it was a matter of unlinking some of it and digging up the posts. I didn't take a before picture, so this one from about 4 or 5 years ago was the only one I could find. You can see that the fence extended nearly to the other fence, so I wanted to get about 2 of the posts and that length out. I found one connecting joint on the top bar where I could separate the bar. The next joining piece couldn't be taken out, because we still wanted that part of the fence. So the 2nd bar would need to be cut near the 3rd post.
My first task was clearing out the leaves, sticks, and things that had accumulated along the fence. My next obstacle was cutting the roots that had grown through and around the fence. I couldn't get all the limbs out of the fence, but I was able to cut the pieces that were connecting the fence to the ground. Next, I had to unlink the fence from the top and bottom bar and from the posts. I didn't think I would be able to unscrew the old screws, but somehow I was able to do that. When I rolled back the fence and got the bars separated from the post, that left the just the post (which was in a cement block). I started digging out the first one, and eventually was able to loosen it and pull it out. It didn't work so well with the next post. I couldn't seem to find the bottom of it, and it wasn't loose at all. I felt some give with the first one, but the 2nd post was just solid and wouldn't budge.
I figured if I kept digging deep enough, I would be able to somehow loosen it. However, that wasn't working. After spending so much time with no results, I was about to give up. It was then that I said a prayer, asking for help in getting this post out. At that point, most of the cement block was exposed, so I figured if I hit the bar really hard, it might fall over. I tried a hammer unsuccessfully. After I said the prayer, I had a little inspiration - I thought about the first post with the cement block still attached. I thought that might be enough force to pop it over. I hauled it over, heaved it up, and gave 3 hard blows with the cement post, and it snapped over. I was SO happy! And I knew my prayer had been answered.
When I placed the posts next to each other, I could see why I was having a hard time. The 2nd cement block was twice as tall as the first one. No wonder I couldn't get to the bottom of it.
I made a pretty big hole and a pretty big mess, but I accomplished that one task I set out to do. It will probably be a while before the rest of what I envision for the yard gets done... does anyone know how to level a yard and do your own pavement?? I've got a lot of time, but not a lot of money...
I don't know why I was so determined to get that fence out, but maybe I just had to know I could do something hard. Or if I started the project, maybe we can actually make the rest of our goal happen.
Anyway, I did quite a bit more work around the yard. I took out an ugly bush next to the house, cleaned up an area along the fence, and did a lot of weeding and raking. I think I put in about 25 hours of yard work one week. It looks better than it did before, but still not pretty. We basically don't have grass anymore. It has died and been replaced with weeds and foxtails. There are holes and mounds everywhere from gophers (and some from the kids digging holes). I'm not sure what all is involved to make our yard green and great again... 😏
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