I should have remembered that it is a major chore to dig holes in the glacial till that makes up our subsoil around here.  Blaine and I dug the holes for the Pergola years ago when we were younger and it was still exhausting.

On the west side of our house we have a strip where we have a bit of a rose garden and an area where we plant Tomatoes.

Around here we have this plague called DEER that consume everything.  Think of Locusts but because they have 4 legs and are cute, we cannot kill them.

Over the years I have erected temporary fences with plastic mesh to protect the tomatoes ( the roses are lost to deer, they love the blooms and somehow avoid the thorns)   But it was unattractive.

I determined that this year I was going to erect a barrier fence along the wall with lift-out panels.  Not a solid fence but thin vertical cedar rods so that the sun could get in but narrow so the deer could not get through.  Cedar so it would match the coloring of our house.

Great concept but nothing that hired fencing companies could understand.  All they know is boards or metal wires or lattice.  Nothing that I wanted so I decided to build it myself.

Today I spent 5 hours digging 6 post holes.  I rented a clamshell digger but ended up using my heavy spud bar and pulling out the gravel by hand.   Absolutely exhausting.  Pat says she could hear the house shake as I slammed the bar into the ground trying to break up rocks.  At one point, a foot down, I hit on a ridge of granite that I suspect was connected to the core of Vancouver Island (I ended up moving the hole)

I used to be able to do this kind of work all  day when I was 30, but apparently I am no longer young.  I took lots of breaks sitting and wondering why I had not hired someone.

At the end of the day I have 6 holes dug and after a long shower and a Pizza dinner feel pretty good.  (some wine helped)

I will send a picture of the deer barrier once it is completed.