building the gates to the garden

Today was a slow day, but in a good way; productive in planning to make sure I have all the steps in the correct order.

The front facing wall of the fence is marked out. The front has three gates, two double (at the driveway and the future drive on the far side of the lot) and one single (at the arbor).

I started the day installing half of the double gate, needing the measurement to correctly map out the post spacing across the front.

Then I moved to our driveway to establish the opposite corner post so I could run a plumb line across the lot. It helped a lot with measuring out the posts.

I think I am at a place where I can knock down pieces of it through the week. We shall see.

I have wanted an arbor with a set-back gate for awhile, but the one I had bookmarked is not longer available.

An arched top, of course, was mandatory and I like the substitute I found, but it was only available in a pre-stained finish. While I was planning to eventually stain the fence, I doubt it will ever be such a dark brown.

As I assembled it today, I hated the idea of stopping to sand everything down for a fresh start. As I moved it in place, I had my “converging maelstrom/happy accident” epiphany to solve the issue: I will paint it the red of our doors, letting it stand out as the feature. (You can see the door color in a photo above.)

I feel good about the project. I suspect the final result will surpass the concept in my head. I really like those moments.