The Hobbit Hole III - Journey to the Cross-roads!

[HairOfTheDog]

Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!

Journey to the Cross-roads
The Two Towers Edition

Come on! Come in! -if you would like to have some seedcakes and a pint and relax a while. (If it is a special occasion, we still have a few bottles of the old wineyards left!)

Our first thread ( New Zealander builds Hobbit hole ) reached 4,100 posts, and we thought that was big. Our second thread (The New Hobbit Hole ) held us for over 48,000 posts, and we loved it dearly. We talked about moving to a new thread for the last 38,000 posts, but we are really slow to muster! Finally, the time has come. Tomorrow (at 12:01 am, to be precise!) The Two Towers comes out, and we start a new chapter.

[HairOfTheDog]

Good morning! WN says the wrong guy won.

[Overtaxed]

With all these trees down and the brush pile and all...I've got lots of birds about.

[Wneighbor]

Wha? Izza race over? :)

I hate it when that happens.

[Overtaxed]

It's morning already? I was pulling for Junior, but everyone kept wrecking and it ended under caution. :(

[Wneighbor]

I have carefully dropped mowed material over critters I accidentally uncovered. I always tried to have my gloves on when I handled the grass/weeds/branches. Know my scent was still on the gloves but wanted to have the least amount of interference I could so I didn't disturb parents or babies too much.

The border collie that I had for 14 years used to guard stuff like that if I turned it up. Truth is, she usually would try to keep me from mowing in those spots and I was too much of a big dumb creature to pay attention till it was too late. But, after I'd done it she would lay down a few feet away and keep watch for days. She liked to take care of everyone. :-)

[Wneighbor]

Junior can win if you want. I just really hate it when it's Tony Stewart or Mark Martin.

[Overtaxed]

What's wrong with Mark Martin?

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, I went and broke off some vine maple branches and layed them loosely around and over the nest, about as thick as the berries had been. Didn't see the parents around this time, hope they just left before I spotted them or they are off gathering.

[Overtaxed]

Stand back! I just ate a whole clove of garlic....raw...with parsley. I think I can do this.

[Wneighbor]

he drives a ford.

[Wneighbor]

Sounds good.

I just committed planticide on some branches too. mint, lemon verbena and some of that Carolina lemon balm from OT's house.

I might be hard to reach in a little bit. It'll prolly make me yawn.

[Wneighbor]

Warding of mosquitos? My neighbors are grilling steaks. I could smell 'em when I went out and cut my tea fixin's.

not fair.

I wanted some steak. They made me very hungry for it in church this morning. And that salad was the perfect warm-up to steak.

[Overtaxed]

Oh. It's the Chevy/Ford thing. I thought it might be because he's short. :)

[300winmag]

I like "old still."

You make it sound sorta hobbity. I'm sure there was "the old still" somewhere near Hobbiton (and plenty of other places, too). I liked the extra touch PJ added to the "birthday party" scene when someone asked Frodo, "Has Bilbo been drinking some of the Old Gaffer's stuff?". "Well, yes he has, but that's not the point!".

As I read both the book and the movie, the Gamgees weren't poor dirt farmers. While Bilbo was pretty wealthy, his family knew the Gamgees for ages. I suspect the Old Gaffer was a prosperous farmer who had others manage farm operations while he looked after Bilbo's garden, which was really an excuse to hang around with Bilbo all day, smoking pipeweed and sipping his 'shine.

Tolkien's Shire had at least as much class-consciousness as his real-world England of the 40s and 50s. If the Gamgees were on a level with other prosperous farmers like the Cottons and Maggots, they were just one step below the "gentry" like the Tooks and Brandybucks.

That's why Sam was never Frodo's "servant", but more like the "gentleman farmer" down the road that passed the time hanging out with the Baginses at Bag End or the local pub.

[Wneighbor]

Is he short? Is he drives that car?

[HairOfTheDog]

The Old Still. :~D

[Overtaxed]

Warding of mosquitos?

Heh...partly. If Mamma-nonna could do it, so can I. :)

[Wneighbor]

As I read both the book and the movie, the Gamgees weren't poor dirt farmers.

I agree. I thought the movie went more toward showing Sam as lower class than it should have been. But, since it was a minor opinion of mine I lived with it.

Stills are a large part of my family heritage. A still in my family was a sign of prosperity. LOL

[Wneighbor]

Perhaps you could even rig one up. for show of course. that would make some good stories as well.

[HairOfTheDog]

I didn't see Sam in the film as any more of a servant than the book portrayed. I think class structure aside, hobbits are fair and friendly employers.... hmmmmm

Haven't watched it for awhile! - I think I will go watch Fellowship from the couch and perhaps sneak in a nap too.