I found this shepherd's hook in the garden section at Home Depot. It is 4' high, has a "step" on the base where one can put one's foot to sink it into the ground, and the price was right - $8. I bought 2. I tried to close the partial loop at the top end to hold a 2", stainless steel, split ring. Even squeezing it in the vise didn't work completely as the steel had enough memory so that there was still about a 1/4" gap at the top. Home Depot to the rescue again. I found some plumber's epoxy putty for about $6, cut off a piece, molded it to close the gap, let it set for an hour, filed it to shape and put some white primer on it. I'll spray on a finish coat of black paint later this week. It looks good, and even better, it works great!

You'll note that the pole is not vertical. I did this to tighten the creance line a wee bit. I could have simply moved the hook out further too.

All photos taken in this series were done with a cell phone.