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Friday 31 May 2013

To fence or not to fence...

I missed last Friday's Blog Hop.  Slaps self on the wrist.  I did get to visit a bunch of Blogs on Monday though.  Yes, I've decided that I do love this forum for communicating.  Once a week isn't onerous and it organises my life into daily deliberate actions.

So this week, I'm celebrating the fact that I'm fencing in part of my garden.

I'm very privileged to live in a house which was built in the 1950s on half an acre in the middle of Johannesburg.  I live here with my sister, who lives in the cottage and, my son and his fiancee who live in the flat.  I have the house and my brother, Geoff, from Cape Town is currently staying with me while he attends to some work projects.  Quite a full-house all around if I take into consideration that among us we have six dogs as well as eight cats (all of which are rescues and two of which are disabled).  My brother did a story on them over at Geoff's Blog.

Our two large dogs, who belong to my sister, are: Jaybee, a German Shepherd/ Rottweiler cross who was picked up on Johannesburg Road (hence the name JB for Jo'burg).  He is a gentle, lovable hunk of a dog.  Then there's Blaise, who's a Husky/ Border Collie cross with one brown eye and one pale blue eye (the only non-rescue animal).

Patrick & StJohn
My four are small dogs (The 'Littlies') and were all rescued just-in-time from shelters.  They are:  Patrick, a Yorkie who, if I let him, would love nothing more than to spend his days on his pillow on my bed - he objects to having to fraternise with 'the dogs';  StJohn is my dachsie cross - the tiniest of the lot with the biggest mouth who loves everyone and everything;
Ross & Kerryn integrating Cassie into the family
Angus the Scottie is quite an elderly chap with a lovely nature and, when the SPCA were neutering him, they discovered that his one eye was so badly damaged that it would need to be removed; Castiel (Cassie), my most 'needy' boy is possibly an American water spaniel cross who is so young that he hasn't yet grown into his paws.

A few weeks ago, StJohn (dachsie) got out of the gate and had an altercation with the bull mastiff next door.  StJohn came off a very second best and spent ages recovering.  We're just grateful that he only needed stitches and not surgery.

They look secure, but the other side of the garden is open
All of this doggie-information was a lead up to what's happening in my life now.  My house is really old and needs a lot of work but this week that takes a back seat as I'm having a fence put up in my garden to keep my Littlies safe.  It seems to be such a small thing but it's actually huge.  I'll no longer have to suffer heart-failure if anyone opens the main gate; no more worry that we'll have a car tragedy because the Littlies are only as high as the top of the bottom of a car's tyre; and an enclosed courtyard will keep StJohn and his very high-pitched shrieking away from the main gate and, perhaps (wishful thinking here) dampen his need to bark (shriek).  When I say 'courtyard', The dogs won't be very restricted, their running space when they're confined will be the size of a townhouse garden (about 600sqm or an eighth of an acre); they'll have the run of the full garden when it's safe; and my heart will also be safe.



20 comments:

  1. Oh, man, I thought you meant -fencing-, like, you know, with a sword.
    But, yeah, keeping the animals safe is important, hence my cat living indoors now.

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    1. That's so funny, Andrew because when I titled the post, that went through my mind.

      Agreed about keeping pets safe. The next 'animal' project is to have a cat enclosure erected so I don't have to worry about them anymore either.

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  2. I loved reading about your pups. I fenced in my yard a couple of years ago, and it was a great thing for my dogs.

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    1. I can't wait, MJ and, as great as it will be for them, I'm soooo looking forward to the peace of mind...

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  3. Your love of your dogs comes through in every paragraph. Is Castiel named for...?

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    1. Hello, John

      It's good to see you. Thanks. I do love them although sometimes I think I could throttle the lot of them - much like I felt about my children when they were growing up.

      My son named Cassie and yes, I'm told he was named after the Thursday Angel in Supernatural - one of Ross's favourite TV shows. He's so not an angel though, just a puppy with a lot of needs at the moment...

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  4. Homes, dogs and keeping everyone safe are wonderful celebrations. Cheers!

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    1. Hello MJ

      They so are, aren't they? Have a great weekend.

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  5. Lovely celebrations and so much family (including members of the furry variety) to share them with! One of the first things we'll be doing when we buy a house is putting up a fence for our two big brutes!

    Brandy's Bustlings

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    1. Yes. I totally agree. The builder has started on the fence. I'll put up some pics once it's complete. I can't wait...

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  6. Your Littlies are so cute.
    Hope you're having a great weekend.

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    1. Thanks, Lynda

      The support beams for the fence are in and concrete is drying. :)

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  7. That is a good celebration, do show us the fence when it is complete!

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    1. Thanks for the visit and I certainly shall...

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  8. So glad your littlies will be safe and sounds now.
    Thanks for visiting my blog too :)

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    1. Last night there must have been a dog on the loose in the road. A whole night of dogs shouting at the tops of their voices at the main gate or, running back to bed and then out again, makes me realise how important the fence is to my sanity - forget peace of mind... :)

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  9. Adorable beasties, all! I'm glad they'll be even safer now. :)

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  10. You have a lot of critters to keep safe! My pets would come first as well.
    And my apologies - you've been visiting me for a while now and I didn't even realize I wasn't following you!

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    1. Yep - pets first. Even their food is bought first to make sure they don't go hungry.

      Thanks for the visit, Alex. I love your blog.

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