Good Neighbors

The reason for wanting a fence was an obvious one: you know what they say about good fences. We have a corner lot, so we wanted to utilize the extensive yard on the side of the house farthest from the ongoing party next door. We pay an outrageous amount of property taxes for all this space - why not use it to the best of its potential?

We asked Dean, favored contractor and long-time associate, to put up the posts. While he was at it, he even got a side-gig of doing the same for the neighbors across the street. Then Rich began the process of framing it in.

And finally - we have a big yard! In the foreground is the old fence in the process of being cut down. It really felt way too open at first. Even the dogs seemed to prefer the old 400-square-foot courtyard area between the house and garage. Like us, they got used to it. Now, what to do with the posts on the old fence - keep them and string lights across, making the courtyard a grilling and eating area? Cut them down and build a countertop on the panel in the lower part of the picture as a kind of bar or countertop or side table? Something else wonderful?