Now the fence is really really done. Astute (asleep) readers may remember that though the fence and gate were finished a while ago, the fenceposts still stuck up much higher than the rails. Armed with a new Japanese pull saw given to me by my brother for my birthday, I trimmed them all down this past weekend. (If your eyes glaze over at technical details, please skip to the next paragraph.) The pull saw is a great tool, engineered so the teeth cut when you pull back. Since the blade is in tension, it is straighter and can be thinner than a normal ‘Merican handsaw. And each pull is more efficient because you are removing less wood. Those Japanese!
Once the fence got its haircut, I sealed the ends of the post with boiled linseed oil. If you’ve ever come across a beautiful handmade wooden box, or perhaps an heirloom cabinet, it likely smelled of linseed oil. This is one of the rare products in the hardware store that won’t curl your nosehairs and give them cancer when you take a whiff. Since the fence has been out all summer through the ultra-dry heatwaves and constant sun, the wood has dried out. When I brushed on the linseed oil, it would soak into the wood before I finished a stroke. Imagine painting water on a hot skillet. Some posts took probably ¼ cup and were still thirsty. Maybe the oil was shooting straight through the capillaries of the post and pooling in the ground. Well, it’s natural at least.
I would post a picture of the updated fence but it looks basically the same as it did before, only slightly neater and more even. So I’ll put a picture of Baby Harbat instead. This was her first smoothie, sucked down and followed by EXTRRRRREEEME SUGAR EXCITEMENT!!!
Writer, architect, father, husband.
That girl has mastered that straw–you know she's gifted!