Goose Gate: The Next Episode

And we’re back for the final installment of our fence building extravaganza and this time it’s about the ever important Goose gate.  Since the most important reason for us building a garden fence in our backyard was to keep the dog out of the garden (especially out of the poisonous rhubarb leaves), the fence needed a gate.  Whoomp…there it is.

Don’t mind the dirt on the gate.  It has since rained for forty days and forty nights (seriously…we’re working on the ark) and all the dirt has washed away since then.  For those of you who have been with us long time know that this isn’t our first foray into Goose Gate territory.  A couple years ago, Colby made a Goose Gate for our deck so we could close the gate, open the front door and give Goose some indoor/outdoor freedom.  Since sometimes barking at the squirrels is more fun out on the deck.  It’s a rough life being a Goose.

So let’s get this gate building party started.  The gate was pretty simple to build and probably took us all of an hour to put it together.  It started with some scrap pressure treated wood which Colby built and screwed together into a simple frame down in the basement workshop.

The frame is screwed together at the basic, 45 degree cuts and supported by some small bracings at each corner.

With the frame assembled, outside we went armed with a small arsenal of power tools, the gate frame, and a pair of recycled door hinges (I believe they came off our old bedroom door…our wood/construction hoarding ways know no boundaries).  Colby leveled the gate and tweaked it’s position until it looked level with both sides of the fence.  Then it was just a matter of screwing the frame to the fence post using some long decking screws.

After screwing the gate onto the fence post, our next step was to attach a slide bolt to the gate because what good is a Goose gate if a Goose can push on it to get through?!  Conundrums of a Goose owner.  The slide bolt was something we picked up at our local hardware store for a few bucks (I think it was a whopping $3.50).  To install it, simply place it where you like on the gate, screwing it into the place with the screws provided.

Then measure and mark the location on the fence post the bolt will slide into.  Then using a spade bit that’s slightly larger than the diameter of the bolt, drill a hole into the post.

I think that’s my favorite wood working action shot to date!  Photographer Angie for the win!  With that, the Goose gate could finally be closed.  Although, it wasn’t quite functional yet.  Even with Goose on his run, he could still get through the gate.  Operation fencing time.

Just like how we installed the fence pickets on the meat of the fence, we installed the pickets on the fence gate.  We simply tacked each picket onto the gate frame using a nail gun, making sure each one was level.  And later screwed the pickets in more permanently with a pair of decking screws.

This left the gate pickets a little on the long side, just like when we built the fence.

We could have cut the pickets straight across like we did with the fence, but we wanted to try something just a little different.  We were thinking of a curve.  We figured that if we hated it, we could always cut it straight across afterwards.  To make curve cutting easier, we whipped out a thin piece of scrap wood and bent it at a curve, making sure to line up each end at the same height on each fence post and drew a line right on the pickets using a sharpie.

Leaving Colby an easy guide for cutting each picket with the circular saw.

And NOW we finally have a Goose gate on the garden fence to keep the dog away from the plants.  Our plants are thanking us for it.  Especially since Goose’s favorite napping spot is on the radishes and hole digging takes place in the lettuce bed.

Although, as happy as we are to have the dog out of the garden, I can’t say that Goose is overly excited about it.  He’s taken to finding the one space in the fence where he can stick his head through the it to whine at us.

And sneaking around the outskirts of the fence to bark at us until we let him in the garden.  Hmmm…not so certain that we won the Goose-out-of-the-garden game.  Poor Goose…he’s so sad now that we’ve put the kabosh on radish naps.

We’re loving our new fence and really wish we had started this project sooner.  But sometimes you just need to live and use a space (outdoor spaces included) for a little while before making any major changes or commitments, like building a fence.  We still have a few more things to finish on the fence, like staining/sealing it and planting flower beds in front of it.  But we need to wait a little while for the pressure treated wood to dry out before we can stain it.  We’re thinking towards the end of the summer we should be able to tackle that.  As for the gardening part…I’m waiting on my momma to come down for a visit.  She’s the green thumb in my family and has promised me some gardening help for my birthday this summer.  Hint hint Mom…we’re ready for you to come visit!

We still have a few other outdoor related projects to tackle this summer.  Since summer in Maine lasts precisely 3.8 days, we should probably take advantage of what few gorgeous summer days we get and tackle those projects already.  Outdoor projects currently trump indoor projects these days.

Pssst…Okay, I have to talk about Design Star…I mean…HGTV Star for a second!  I’m already addicted!  I’m totally in love with Brooks, I think he’s awesome!  And I love Abby too.  She’s got this warm, eclectic style that I dig.  Anne will probably do well too but I find her to be a little on the bossy side.  Are you guys watching the show?  Any favorites or early front runners?!