Planting Flower Bulbs

Here you see Emily and Victoria hard at work planting bulbs, which will hopefully bloom gloriously next spring.

A Roof For The Dog Kennel: Part 2

Em and I finally got the tarps attached... Which was hard to do in a tidy manner, since I was conforming rectangular tarps to an arched surface. However, I think it is acceptable. All we have left to do is cover the kennel door with some clear plastic, which should keep wind/snow out but let some light in. Next year I think we'll pour a cement slab for the kennel. Here are some pics:

A Roof For The Dog Kennel: Part 1

Last winter I built the dogs an insulated dog house with a flap door, and then tarped the kennel panels to block the wind and provide some more shelter.

I had also tried putting a tarp overhead, with a few 2x4 supports, but the weight of the snow was too much and it bent the sides of the kennel in and the tarp hung down into the kennel.

Then a few months ago my friend Lisa sent me a link to some goat butchering information. The article was interesting, and I explored their site a little more. One of the more interesting projects on the site was a "hoop house" hog shelter made by bending cattle panels into an arch and then covering them with tarps.

I imagined that a variation of this idea might work to support a tarp roof over the kennel, and went to work on the design.

Unlike my previous flat roof design, which pulled the walls of the kennel inward, the tension of the bent cattle panels will try to force the top of the kennel walls outward, so I braced the walls with some 1/8" steel cable which looped around the kennel frame and also through the cattle panel.

The roof is made from three 7.5' sections of 52" high cattle panel, one section at each end and the middle section overlapping the others. I fastened them initially with cable-ties, and then later with U-bolts and the bracing cables. I hope that my arch has enough rise to shed the snow and be adequately strong.

Next I will layer some duct-tape over the cut edges of the panel to protect the tarps, and then cover the roof and walls with tarps.

Here are some pictures of the project thus far (click for larger versions):