One of my favorite stories is Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer and the Fence. In this story Aunt Polly assigns Tom to white wash the fence. The first person to come along wanted to paint as Tom had made the job look very interesting. Tom said, "No, it would be too hard to do." Well some money was exchanged and the guy painted for a while. Somebody else came by and the same action took place. In the end the fence was painted three times and Tom Sawyer was a wealthy kid.
Well, you know what I'm after here. I'm looking for a little help. Now most of you will say that you live too far away. But my two neighbors, Bob and Bob, who read this blog, are probably heading for the hills. They are the only ones close enough to help me!
Now every other summer there is a fence around my place that needs painting. Preparing the fence for painting is a lot of work and then the painting starts. Yesterday was 30 C (90 F). That's too hot to work.
So slowly slowly the fence will get painted and then on to the next maintenance job.
Regret inability to be of assistance - The Pacific Ocean is in the way. I am sure your "Michelangelo" effort will be magnificent.
ReplyDelete30 C !!! Excellent for suntanning with of course cream to stop blistering.
You could take up a senior "life saver" position here on one of our famous beaches!!!
Again a lovely sunny day here - 23 C Max. with no bloody winds from the Southern Ocean and that place called Antarctica!
Cheers and keep up the brush work.
Colin (Brisbane. Australia)
I'm surprised that a little thing like the pacific would stop you !
DeleteTry livening it up with a mural. It was 22 degrees here yesterday and that is too hot.
ReplyDeleteI sent you an e-mail so that should give you an excuse for a break.
A mural? That's a good idea!
DeleteThanks for the email. Do I have a lot to learn!
You might need a larger brush. Perhaps you should have a painting party:)
ReplyDeletePainting party? Good idea! I would have to buy some more brushes.
DeleteThe best thing I remember about Tom Sawyer, is how he cons his friend to get his fence painted.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of my favorite Twain stories.
DeleteYou are doing a good job and I think you can manage it very well on your own.
ReplyDeleteI can manage. Yes, I've had lots of practice over the years.
DeleteGood luck finding help! It's amazing, these chores that need to be done every summer. My husband is working on restraining our deck this summer - so far I've been less than helpful.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a deck but I went through that with my daughter on her deck.
DeleteYou could try painting in the cool (and dark :) )of the night - just stick to one color and you'll be fine!
ReplyDeleteWe leave our wood fences unpainted here...just treat them with arsenic and other toins to keep them from rotting.
ReplyDeleteCedar is good for leaving wood unpainted.
DeleteUm, I'm busy doing something else. Anything else, really. Made me laugh, Red. And you're right: it's getting to be too hot to do much outside when it reaches 90! :-)
ReplyDeleteThe only thing is to go up a few thousand feet and it cools off.
Deleteoh, wish you'd link in to good fences with this! :) mr. tom sawyer!
ReplyDeleteWell, I never thought of that.
DeleteWhen I saw the pic in the snippet I immediately thought of Tom! ;) I'd love to come and help but you'll be finished by the time I could get there!
ReplyDeleteI can wait!
DeleteUh, I've gotta be someplace real soon and if I help paint, I will be late - where you going? you asked - Me, I'm going swimming at the ole hole n maybe fishin after that.....and NO, I am not taking the raft :) You look real nice against that fence n all :)
ReplyDeleteSome of you are real pros with the excuses!
DeleteYou don't want me painting your fence, unless you want portraits of your family and friends where everyone can see them.
ReplyDeleteWell, portraits sound like a cool idea. How about a mural?
DeleteI think of that story almost every time I paint
ReplyDeleteIt's one of my favorite Twain stories.
DeleteIt is heating up here in Seattle too. With our work done for the day we are spending the afternoon indoors. It sounds like such a waste of a lovely summer day, but it's HOT outside.
ReplyDeleteYes, we keep our house closed until the outside temp drops.
DeleteFunny post! I love that Tom Sawyer story.
ReplyDeleteYes, the fence story was one of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteGosh, Red, I would love to come help you if I could. It certainly looks like it would be a lot of fun. I would like to encourage your nearby friends to give it a try. :-). It looks like you're doing a fabulous job.
ReplyDeleteyup... We even took a touristy trip down the Big River to Hannibal Missouri to see that dang fence a few years ago...:)
ReplyDeleteMy granddaughter would be great. She's currently painting the bathtub!
ReplyDeleteMine need doing every year because of the strong salt-laden winds scouring them. They didn't get done last year and are looking very much in need of some TLC. Thank heaven I have nowhere near as much fencing as you do.
ReplyDeleteThat was one of my childhood favorites. Gee I wish I could help with the fence, but um...I just don't live close enough. I'll bet your neighbors will come to your rescue when they see how hard you are working!
ReplyDelete