Dogs in Their Play Yard

It is very important for dogs to enjoy the outdoors and equally important to create a safe and secure dog play yard for them, and to build a dog house that will protect them from the elements.  As you can see from the photo, we have country property, complete with coyotes, bobcats, and mountain lions.  So in building our dogs a play yard, it was a priority to keep the dogs safely inside and the critters outside.

Ball in the water bowl - sometimes life is confusing for dogs

The first step in creating a dog play yard is clearing the space of any brush, weeds, or debris. This particular space was our old garden, since we wanted a bigger dog yard and a more compact garden.  The old dog yard was about 15′ x 30″; this new space is about 40′ x 80′, significantly bigger. There are a few trees at the perimeter for shade.

Installing chain link fence for the dog play yard focused on several factors: strength and durability, cost, and skill level.  My neighbor provided me with free 4″ x 4″s that he gets as delivery platforms at his company, to serve as wood fence posts; for the corners and door frame, I selected 4′ x 6″s from the home improvement store.  What started as a wet-season project was becoming summer, which meant the ground was getting harder by the day; having an on-going barter with a landscaper, installing the fence posts with the utility of a great laborer who dug the 2′ holes while I did the concrete work to hold the posts vertically – his job was way harder than mine, I did say “great laborer!”

Chain link fence gate in wood fence posts

The next step was to install the gate to the dog play yard.  The wood fence posts for the gate were in place.  I determined that a pre-made chain link fence gate would be more secure than a home-made door which I’ve built before, and only cost $45. I had many of the chain link fence parts from the prior gate, so no further cost.

Chain link fence installed on wood fence posts

I chose chain link fence as the material for the dog play yard. Equivalently priced horse fencing would have worked but only comes in 100′ lengths; I had about 320′ of perimeter and since the 6′ height of the chain link fence also came in 50′ lengths that was the logical choice – making a smaller dog play yard didn’t make sense.  This was the biggest expense, but had saved the cash up for this over a period of time.  My great laborer returned a couple weeks later with his great helper and the 3 of us stretched out the chain link fencing, along the wood fence posts, hammered them to the posts with big U nails. The treatment of the top and bottom rails was decided upon once the fencing was installed to see what really was necessary – a middle rail was not needed.  I had gathered most of these 2″ x 6″ and 2″ x 8″ rails from recycled fencing from my country neighbors.  To keep the dogs and critters from digging in or out, I dug in large carry-able rocks under the bottom rail.  It was a cheap experiment, but it has worked for quite awhile now.  While the fence doesn’t keep the wildlife away it certainly has kept them out and although our dogs are diggers, having to dig a foot down and then more to clear the rocks has kept them in their dog play yard.

Dogs Have a Tough Life

As you can see the dogs are small albeit feisty and incredibly energetic terriers.  Mostly they lay around in their 3000 sq.ft. dog play yard until they catch sight of a lizard, squirrel, rabbit, equestrian, a vehicle, or their keepers, at which time they carry on competing for dominance.  They go the most crazy when they see a coyote, the most prolific large critter,  shouting out their alerts telling us they are protecting us from danger.  Sometimes they lay around in the dog yard, sometimes in the dog house, sometimes in the shade, other times in the sun.  It’s a tough life.

The Dog House

Building the dog house is something I did about 20 years ago with another set of dogs.  Same priorities: build something strong and cheap.  It consists of a 4′ x 4′ plywood-covered delivery pallet for the foundation and floor, 2″ x 4″ frame with plywood remnant strips as siding, all re-used materials plus a purchase of hardibacker board for the roof and “veranda,” that no dog should do without!  For all the wet winters and searing summers this dog house has been through, it has held up remarkably; when I moved the dog house from one dog play yard to the other, it got a fresh coat of paint and a new roof, that’s it.  And that’s one way to build a dog house strong and cheap in a dog play yard at our country property.

Joe Fox is an Independent Agent of United First Financial and offer the Money Merge Account to people who want to save interest in the payoff of their total debt.

Recently my computer’s graphics card suddenly went out. This was diagnosed after verifying that it wasn’t the monitor or the cable. Due to the fact that my computer is 5 or 6 years old, the original graphics card is no longer manufactured. So down to the local big box store to purchase a suitable replacement for my ATI video graphics card. It cost about $100 but I had some coupons and the purchase was about $85. Take it home, snap it into the pci express graphics card slot and the monitor works! It seems over time, methods to send video from PC to TV have upgraded and very much diversified. Five years ago the standard for s video cable from pc to tv was based on 4 pins. Now the output from pci express graphics cards is either 7 pin or 9 pin. I was not able to find an adapter that would convert my 4 pin cable to the 7 or 9 pin graphics card. So I returned it and mail-ordered  one from a computer supply warehouse at a quarter of the price that came with a 9 pin s video output, that I was told would accomodate a 4 pin cable. No such luck! But I could mail order a 9 pin s video out to component cable. A week later got the parts, hook up the monitor -it works, hook up to the tv – it’s black and white, but crisp! ATI is the software that enables this hardware, they were very helpful when I called and after much trial and error, they believed the manufacturer of the second graphics card was actually not manufactured for the North American market which uses the NTSC video format, rather it was made for the South American market which uses the PAL video format; this would result in a black and white picture. ATI recommended I order from an ATI supported graphics card company listed on their website. The best deal was a Sapphire video card which came with a 7 pin s video out, since I already had component cable, I ordered the 7 pin s video to component video adapter. Another week later, got all the parts in hand, quick assembly – the Sapphire video card fired up the monitor, connect the 7 pin s video to component video adapter to the component video cables, and… the TV video now is in full crisp living color! After a month of trial and error and mail ordering to save on parts costs, it all works at total great price: $42 for the Sapphire video card + $4 for the s video to component video adapter + $6 for the 25′ component video cables + $13 for shipping costs = $65 total, shipped and installed.

Sapphire video graphics card

Component Cable

s video to component adapter

Online TV Shows

So now that we have streaming video and sound from PC to TV, what TV shows are online to watch? Most of the major broadcast and cable networks have an archive of their recently shown TV series. Although each may have its own particular player, these are easily downloaded and then you can watch that missed TV show a day later to a few months later for instant streaming of video and audio from PC to TV. For an archive of past years shows, I have found XiTV.com to be a great resource. These are bit torrents to be downloaded and opened up by a bit torrent player; it may take a couple hours to download an episode, but it may be worth it to you – for instance the entire original StarTrek is available. Spoiled as we are, we want our TV. DVR’s on your cable or satellite box are wonderful, but what if you want to record 3 shows at one time, no can do, or what if something gets accidentally deleted, there are online TV show available for your entertainment.

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Home on the Meadow

A regular activity for country properties is pasture management.  Pastures and meadows have natural growth cycles.  My meadow is most prolific as spring warms around March or April, both in density and plant variety; in above average wet seasons I’ve seen 1000 different plants in a single square foot.  Left unchecked, the competition amongst California native plants and grasses would force growth up to six feet in height.

California Buckwheat & Native Grasses

As summer progresses, many of the plants have gone through their full cycle such as wildflowers, oatgrass and miners lettuce; others endure the summer’s strong sun and heat, exemplified by wild mustard, lantana and California buckwheat. Come September, most growth has dried from the sun and becomes dormant in the fall and winter.  I am grateful to be an observer of the meadow growth cycle, and glad when it is dormant and not in need of tending.

meadow tools

Many rural homeowners, might seed their meadow or pasture for lawn, native grasses, or wildflowers; due to the expense on the acreage, I prefer to keep it trimmed and see what naturally grows in the meadow. Many might disk or till the open space; I always felt that would disturb the soil and lead to wind and water erosion; if their open space is large enough, mow with a tractor.  Under an acre, I prefer the use of a gas string trimmer for cost and ease of use; tending takes about half a day per month, April thru August. I have both a hand-held string trimmer and a wheeled string trimmer.  I use a wheeled string trimmer by Swisher to trim the wide open and flatter spaces; I use a hand-held string trimmer by Stihl for fine, detailed work around trees and rocks or up against landscaped areas, or for areas with greater inclines.  It pays to use a quality brand for their durability and power; for small to mid-size properties, lower-end gas string strimmers are good enough.  As a caution, using your lawn mower in a meadow is not so good for the meadow, the lawnmower or the old bod’; always use protective eyewear, disposable ear plugs, closed-toe shoes, and work gloves.

Buckwheat & Live Oak

I’ve enjoyed keeping my meadow natural, open and unused.  Someday I may put a

Wild Mustard

small lake in it, or some horses or both.  Mostly I enjoy the space and the respite it gives me from the work week.  To find out more about what I do for a living, visit fox-joe.com

A Wall of Gnarly Brush

Formerly Hidden Boulders, Trees, Shrubs

Over the years, brush clearing has become a steady task on our property.  Some of it has been for esthetic reasons to open up a space or to reveal a hidden specimen tree or shrub, or a boulder. Since this is semi-arid country, clearing brush from the house is good fire prevention.  This year, I was fortunate to arrange a great barter with one of my therapeutic massage clients who owns a  landscape company.  He sends out a crew of 3 laborers for the day, along with their chipper-shredder machine and truck.  They work real hard, much more than I could do in 3 days.  In exchange, I give the landscape company owner 10 therapeutic massages, a therapeutic massage a week for 10 weeks; it’s a win for him, a win for me and the property.  In their 3 visits, this year we have opened up an area 300 feet long and about 100 feet wide, that forms a distant crescent around the house, opening up spaces where “no man has walked before.”

Spaciously Situated Spa

Dog Yard Instead of Impenetrable Brush

In that space there now is a 3000 sq.ft. dog yard and the existing hot tub and surrounding lounge area has 100′ ring of space around it instead of a 12′ high wall of really ugly brush up close and personal.  Several oak stands and giant boulders have been “liberated.”

Opened View Around the Spa

Whether I do the work myself or with a crew, the right brush clearing tools are a necessity.  Pruning shears are great for cutting dead twigs.  18″-20″ loppers are good for cutting 1/2″ branches up to 2′ above your head. Extended or 30″ loppers help you cut 2″ branches up to 3′ above your head.  Hedge trimmers are good for shaping a shrub or skirting a tree’s foliage to a straight line a few inches above your head so you can walk easily under the tree into its shade.  An extended limb cutter is fantastic for cutting limbs higher up than you can reach for thinning out the tree or removing dead limbs fairly effortlessly.  These brush clearing tools are usually available at home improvement stores or or garden or tractor shops.  In this area I have found Corona brush clearing tools to be durable and reasonably priced.  For anything above 1″-2″ diameter I use my Stihl chainsaw.  When the brush starts to grow back and has tender shoots, I use my trusty Stihl string trimmer.  Disposing of the cleared brush ia a comparable problem to clearing it.  If the crew is here, no problem, they just shred it into the big truck and haul it off either to the county dump or compost it into mulch.  In the early years being with this property I’ve torched it on a gray March morning – this might be the entire winter’s pile 25′ wide and 10′-15′ tall; it makes a scary blaze, so I don’t like to do that.  Then I received a used TroyBilt homeowner portable chipper-shredder, a handy brush clearing machine;  the best mulch from this brush clearing machine can be spread about 6″-8″ thick using a lawn rake and gives a pleasing cover to the revealed topsoil.  A pitch fork is useful as a brush clearing tool for picking apart rodent nests that grow in the architecture of the oak stands.  Other useful brush clearing tools include wheel barrows, handgloves, knee pads, protective eyewear, old clothes, and steel-toed shoes.  An assortment of brush clearing tools need not be expensive, the hand tools from $5 to $40 tops, power tools $250 average, chipper-shredder machine a worthy $800 investment.

This may sound like hard work or a pricey hobby to many, but to myself and other property managing homeowners, it is  “entertainment and exercise”!  It’s why we live in the country. Ah, to see the sparkle of  sunlight coming through the rich green leaves, silhouetted against the clear blue sky.  The open spaces created are little parks.  The mass of overgrowth is gone and the threat of brushfire minimized.  Life is good in the country!

the sparkle of sunlight coming through the rich green leaves, silhouetted against the clear blue sky

Joe  also helps people to minimize the amount of interest on their debts.  He helps those not solvent and undergoing financial hardship with Loan Modification.  He helps those who are solvent, with a Mortgage Payoff Acceleration and Debt Elimination System program, through which debts can be fully paid off in less than a third of the time, saving tons of interest.

The best thing about modern-day rural living is the opportunity to live in nature, the ability to feel nature’s elements and life-giving energy, the progression through the seasons on plant and animal life, and to feel yourself as part of nature.  The culture of our society impresses on us the drive to change our environment, and one may carry that tendency into their rural living.  It is fun to do outdoor nature projects, build things, clean up nature’s overgrowth and create park-like spaces.  But  when we moved into the natural countryside, was our purpose to change things?  Didn’t we have the feeling that this was the most beautiful place and we loved it just as it was?  There we were, driving down the country road, up the canyon to the beautiful valley nestled amongst the hills, beautiful country homes, horses,vineyards, and groves of fruit trees. That is exactly what we thought when we bought our little piece of heaven, a meadow below hills of green, giant boulders and mighty oaks . We wanted to replenish ourselves and still have a modern-day rural life.  So, Yes, go ahead do your outdoor natural projects, build things, clean up nature’s overgrowth, create  park-like spaces.  Just don’t take over nature, just enjoy living with nature.