Back deck ready for gravel.

Front fence done!

The weather was perfect today.  No rain and not too hot.  I went out and spent 4.5 hours and finished staining the front fence.  I would do one side, switch sides and then go back to the other side.  It needed two coats of stain. 
It was only 1600 so I decided to go to the back yard and finish digging dirt.  I thought it would only take thirty minutes.  An hour later I was still shoveling dirt.  I finally broke down and drug the soil back into the ditch and drove the tractor over it back and forth to compact it.  I found another marble!  I have found six very old marbles digging in the back yard.  Most in pretty good shape, the one today was a great color but it had some cracks in the glass.  I am all ready for gravel.  We were going to lay down 3/4 minus gravel and fill the last two inches with pea gravel.  I talked Annmarie into letting me just use the 3/4 minus.  It will save about $400.  I will still use paver sand over the deck area to make a rigid surface.  Plus, I will be compacting the gravel as I fill it in.  I have a little block left over so I think I will lay it on the lawn edge.

Front fence done!

Last night, at bedtime, the alpaca started throwing a fit and yelling and fighting with each other.  I heard it and tried to go to sleep.  Annmarie asked me if I wanted to check it out.  I did not.  So she went and checked, which meant I had to get out of bed anyways.  The temporary fence keeping the other alpaca away from the designated scapegoat had fallen down.  The other alpaca were in there beating up on the little black alpaca.  Annmarie hollered at them and he came running to her at the gate.  He knows she will protect him.  She let him into the yard and now I need to build a better fence.  So tomorrow I will be building a new fence for the odd man out.  It will need to cross the front ditch so he has access to water year round.  I am still waiting on the shears to come back from Premier.  They shipped them on Friday so they should be here soon.  I will finish the alpaca once the shears arrive. 

Back garden and deck all ready for gravel.