Don't Fence Me In

In a recent post I mentioned that we've been enjoying wonderfully warm spring weather (except for today, Derby Day, when it has been cold and rainy). Ellie absolutely LOVES to be outside and is often content to play on the porch where she can enjoy great breezes that sweep over the soccer fields and come our way. When she's playing on the porch, I can keep an eye on her from my kitchen window, or prop the door open and work at the table. Unfortunately, it has been a challenge finding a suitable barrior to keep her on the porch and away from the enticements beyond. We tried blocking the steps with the grill, but it's cumbersome and Reagan can squeeze through the gaps on the sides. We tried the baby gate, but it's not wide enough and I could never figure out Nathan's system for wedging it in securely with the toner cartridge box (yeah, just a step above red neck, I think).

In the end, a combination of fear and desparation led me to put everything else on hold until Nathan could devise a more permanent solution. Less than 24 hours later, he had installed this lovely gate of his own engineering and design, down to spring hinges and a latch that Ellie can't reach.

One problem, we didn't consider... with the gate perpetually closed, Nathan could no longer in his pjs discretely let Reagan out the door to do his business (if you haven't seen where we live, suffice it to say, our road is fairly busy and scores of students and campus tours use the sidewalk across the street). So until we can get back to Lowes, we're back to improvising. This time, improvising a way to keep the stairs open. At least this is better than a cardboard box.