Last week Nyel finished his fence project for the year.  It’s an ongoing good weather occupation on this property and involves replacing posts, rails and pickets as well as periodically rebuilding one or more of the four gates, two of which are doubles.  The pickets need to be hand-made because, wouldn’t you know, they are not a standard design.

I could readily go the ‘easy’ route, gradually trading out these pointy Gothic style pickets for the ready-made squared off ones, but Nyel is a bit of a purist in that respect.  And, since he is the one who is the Fence Maker, he gets to make that call.  My job is simply to nag when things bog down along the way and to clap and cheer at progress and completion.

The final bit for this year was the gate in the south fence – the one that opens into the lane.  It finally gave way completely about the time of the going away party we held for Jean and John Smith.  That was in August, so for three months or so there has been a gap among the pickets waiting for Nyel to find time to build a new gate.

The absence of that particular gate probably made no difference to anyone but the chickens and, possibly to the roofers who were here in early September.  Like many other workmen who come to the house, they parked in the lane and schlepped their equipment in and out through that opening.  Not having to wrestle with the gate probably saved them a bit of time and energy – although I must say that most workers are much like the rest of the population: gates are to open but not to close.

As for the chickens, since they were introduced to the out-of-doors in June, one or another sections of the fence has been missing.  Consequently, they have not been allowed to leave their coop and run; the big outside world has been pretty much unknown territory.  So, I guess we should have been prepared for their reaction when their own little gate was opened wide and they were invited to explore the greater garden.  What happened was… nothing.

Their coop-and-run-gate has been left open during the day for a week now and only once, when I enticed them with scratch and encouraging “chick-chick-chick” calls, have they ventured forth and, even then, their exploration of the garden beds nearest their coop was tentative at best.  I began to understand how the word “chicken” came to have multiple meanings.

I’m hoping that their innate sociability will get the better of their shyness, especially when Nyel and I are out puttering in the garden, ourselves.  But, speaking as the fair weather gardener that I am, it won’t be until Spring that I’ll be spending quality time with garden and chickens.  Still, it’s lovely to know that our yard is secure once more.