On Dog Fences and Mowing

I'm feeling much better as of this afternoon. I was still a little crabby this morning, but this stupid dog fence was really getting to me. I simply didn't want to put the fence up and get pavers, etc., etc. So I finally just decided not to do it. Not to do it until the right solution came along. I truly believe we need to listen to doubts. Frequently, our instincts are right. So, I've called it off. Then I heard from the local Building Center with an estimate for the materials, not including the pavers...over $900. In addition, I suspect that the nearby Menard's and their fancy estimating machine left out a lot of important additional costs. I didn't believe that $329 estimate.

Now, I'm thinking about underground wireless fencing. I had ruled it out last year for the expense. That was when Buddy was a little 15 pound puppy, and I didn't even have Joey yet. Mari said something about it, and I had to think about why I ruled it out back when. Now, it doesn't seem nearly as unreasonable. I called someone in the area that deals and installs them for an estimate. It was even more outrageous than the fencing, $1076 with tax. That was way out of line, but I've been looking online, and there are systems that you can get that are reasonable and my brothers will help me install it. I really feel so much better about things.

Last night, I cooked to get past my desire to cheat. Tonight, I went out and mowed part of my lawn. It took me longer than I'd normally expect, but I had to stop frequently to scoop up dog poop. My poop scooper would work better with shorter grass.

My mower is the reel mower pictured above. I use it only in part because of its environmental impact. I hate the noise, smell, and difficulty starting a regular mower. My mower is no more difficult to push than a regular mower, but I do generally have to make more passes. Hey, there's nothing wrong with that. I can use the exercise. :)