The Hobbit Hole XXVIII - Through shadows to the edge of night

http://freeper.the-hobbit-hole.net/ ^

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

I did not know that!

[Corin Stormhands]

ah...Lost...never gotten into it. Wednesday isn't a good night to try to watch TV.

Speaking of Henry Gale though...Jen have you read "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" by Gregory MacGuire? They've turned it into a Broadway musical now.

It's a weird book. I still haven't decided if I enjoyed it or not...

[osagebowman]

Sorry Corin, thought you followed "LOST".

[HairOfTheDog]

We'd only be digging 13 holes. The other rounds are for cross bracing the corners so we can pull the fencing tight. It may or may not be worth renting a digger. It'd go fast, but to some degree, it makes the posts harder to set, because it doesn't give you the nice pile of dirt you get from setting them the manual way...

You'll get this more when you've set one, but here's our Pictoral... This is for how we'll build the corners. The Gate opening is the same, only it doesn't turn the corner.

Dig down two feet... till the tape on those handles is level with the ground. Helper seperates and pulls all the rocks out. Rocks make for bad post holes.

Set the post in and slowly add dirt tamp tamp add dirt tamp tamp.

Repeat :~D

[Corin Stormhands]

s'ok

Only TV I follow is "24"

[JenB]

I am a font of useless knowledge!

It helps to have read the Oz books many times as a child. That way the names stick with you better than in the movie.

[JenB]

I don't follow tv at all, but I have enjoyed Lost. Of course, being able to watch it whenever fits my schedule helps...

I haven't read that book. Been keeping an eye out for it at the library though since I've heard so much about it.

[HairOfTheDog]

I've looked at those costs, and don't see how we can lower it. I don't think we have enough of the old fencing out front to do any significant good, unless you really fenced a small area and we could get away with one roll of the new.

[RosieCotton]

Could I get started on the holes even before I have the material, or do you do it as you go along?

So...doing it manually means you can have more dirt for setting the posts good and solidly? Kinda?

I guess slow and steady may be better, then.

At least I'd have gloves...when last I attempted to do holes, I had no idea what I was doing - didn't have anyone to show me how to work the thing, that is. And I was using a rusted out digger, and had no gloves. It was...unpleasant.

[osagebowman]

True enough. We've got an auger one (hobbit-power), I prefer that type to the two handle type; we dug one hole a night after work for a couple weeks, mixed the sac-crete and set poles on the weekends.

LSA just informed me that our fence building activities predates machine powered equipment..

Hmm, I didn't think it was that long ago...

[HairOfTheDog]

You never know about the landlord... Maybe he'll go for a break in rent to do the fence... You can always let him know what it cost and ask. Particularly when it's done and he sees how good it looks... ecurbh and I do good fences :~D

I didn't ask for that here, because fencing all our stuff was for my benefit... our landlord doesn't care at all. I think I've added value if he were to rent it again, but if he sells this place, it'd be either as subdivided or as a commercial property, and they'd rip it all out.

[HairOfTheDog]

You can dig all the holes ahead of time if your measurements are good :~D

But if you want to do that, I'd go at least buy the wood posts, and dig and set each one as you go.

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

Re: Gregory Maguire, he has a bunch of books with an idea similiar to "Wicked", i.e., modern retellings of classic fairytales. "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister", "Son of a Witch", and "Mirror Mirror" are three...

[HairOfTheDog]

I never put concrete in the holes.. they're just as firm if you tamp em... :~D

[RosieCotton]

I guess it really wouldn't give me a head start, though. I won't really have any daylight until I'm off work, either on the weekend or because I took time...and if I've got time like that, I might as well go get all the stuff.

[RosieCotton]

The one I used was a two handle type. An auger type is more like a manual drill bit, right? Kinda?

[JenB]

Yup, I've been looking for them at the library but haven't run across any. Twisted fairy tales are a favorite subgenre of mine and I'd like to see how he compares to some of my favorites, say, Terry Pratchett (he doesn't do straight fairy stories but uses elements of them).

[JenB]

Ugh. It's been a hideously stressful, depressing day. I need a book. And a hot bath. With candles and music. And then bed.

[Corin Stormhands]

freepmail me your address and I'll "loan" you my copy...

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

You might like the comic book "Fables" by Bill Willingham, then. I haven't read it, but I know the basic idea behind it is that all fairy-tale characters live off in their own reality (sort of an alternate dimension) and interact with one another. Sort of a behind-the-scenes, what-do-they-do-when-they're-not-living-their-fairy-tales idea.