Of Open Houses……

One does not simply walk into Mordor.

Its black gates are guarded by more than just Orcs.

There is evil there that does not sleep.

And the great Eye is ever watchful.

It is a barren wasteland riddled with fire, ash, and dust.

The very air you breath is a poisonous fume.

Not with ten thousand men could you do this.

It is folly…..

 

Boromir talking after the Elf King Elrond tells the Fellowship they must bring the Ring to the Land of Mordor and cast it into the fires of Mount Doom in order to destroy it.

 

Yeah. That was a bit of a heavy lift.

 

Building a Hobbit house the way we did here was a heavy lift as well. A lot heavier than I had imagined. I was looking over my old posts and I had written at the start that I thought it would take about three years to build. Way underestimated that by quite a bit. Who knew Hobbit houses were so difficult to build? Actually, to be honest, the Editor did. She’s more of a realist than I am. I’m a perpetual optimist. Even when I know in my heart of hearts I could have used 10,000 men. Ten would have been more than enough.

So we had our open house Saturday May 19th! Wow what a turnout. The weather was absolutely miserable. Rained all day pretty much non stop. But it was fine. We had a steady stream of people right from the get go at ten. I didn’t leave until almost 530! What an interesting crowd too. Of course we had some Lord of the Rings people show up who were totally into the house. We also had non Ringers, if you will, who were just curious and wanted to see what the inside was like. I bet about one hundred or so people showed up over the course of the day. There were also a number of people who couldn’t make it because of previous engagements as well. But it was fun. A lot of fun and very satisfying for me. I was really proud of showing off the house and letting everybody know that it was built with the help of my wife, sons, my daughter and their friends.

We had a collage of pictures showing the different phases of construction over the course of the last 6 years. The pictures were cool. Man we did a lot of work on this house. It’s hard to even quantify what we did and accomplished. The pictures brought back a lot of memories for me and my family. A lot.

For the record for anyone still interested in seeing the house I know that a number of people will be coming up on Saturday June 2 between 10-2. Also I’m usually there at those hours almost every Saturday so if you really want to get inside the Hobbit just contact me and I’ll give you a tour.

Just a few Hobbit House Open House fun factoids for the record: So we actually had a lot of stuff to get together for this event. You know food, tent, drinks, cups, pastries, yada,yada, yada. This kind of stuff all adds up. So we split the duties up so no one person had to do it all. We’re all pretty busy. I had that Mother-in-Law of mine get the table clothes for the tables under the tent. You know to put the food on. Who knew table clothes for this thing were gonna cost $100 bucks!. Yeah that’s right. One  hundred grand simollions! Of course I wound up giving her cash before hand and when I asked to see the receipt it quote  unquote “Got wet from all the rain”. Yeah right. Then I see her sneaking into McKinney and Doyle with one of her bookclub friends and I’m saying to myself “Little old ladies living off social security don’t have lunch at McKinney!”  They just don’t.

I should have had her clean the septic.

Yeah. Gotta remember that next time.

Anyway like I was saying spread the word that the Hobbit house is for sale via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, carrier pigeon or whatever other way you can for me. That would be really nice, I’d appreciate that.

Oh yeah almost forgot to tell you. A guy from the Journal of Light Construction was at the open house. He took about a gazillion pictures and interviewed me. He said he’s thinking of putting the house in the “Backfill” section. Pretty exciting. I’ll let you all know when it comes out. If and when that is. That would be awesome. A selling feature if you will.

Sorry about the lack of pictures. I didn’t take any this weekend. I think I talked for eight hours straight.

I’d also like to thank everyone who made the long trek in the inclement weather Saturday to come and see the house. I really appreciate the effort you made to get there. I’m glad  you all came. It meant a lot to me. Thank you. Very much.

 

Enjoy your work week!

Jim

 

6 thoughts on “Of Open Houses……”

  1. It was really nice having you there all day. It was a long day. Thanks for everything you did for the open house and yeah I guess I really do owe you a septic cleaning. Talk to you soon!

    Love you,
    Son-in-Law

    Reply
  2. Hi Jim, Glad to hear that the open house went well despite the weather. You really are an inspiration to a lot of people, and it’s undoubtedly true that you are an optimist….not that there is anything wrong with that. As far as the weather is concerned, down here in Palm Coast wee have had 14 days in a row with rain, heavy rain, and when it wasn’t raining, the humidity has been so bad that its difficult to breathe…forget me building a hobbit house, if this continues any longer i’ll be building an ark! As always, best wishes…………..john

    Reply
    • Hi John! Thanks for writing as always. Too bad about the weather down there. That is always a bummer. My brother was down in the Bahamas fishing last week and said pretty much the same. A lot of rain. What your’re getting sounds excessive. I hope things turn around for you.
      So yeah the open house went really well. I don’t know what will come of it but I’m still going to spend my time promoting my house.
      It will be interesting for sure.
      Thanks for your support. It really has helped.
      Jim

      Reply
  3. Jim,
    Very happy for you and the family.
    As stated previously, every Monday morning was mandatory reading for me!
    Glad I was able to see it in person as well.
    Mike

    Reply
    • Thanks Mike! It was great seeing you there. You totally caught me off guard. I’m glad you enjoyed the blog and the house as well. I should have introduced you to that battle ax Mother-in-Law of mine. I could have broken her chops a little. That would have been fun!

      Good luck in Brooklyn with Hires…. You’re gonna need it’

      Jim

      Reply
  4. Son-in-law,
    You must admit those where some sharpe yellow tableclothes,the food looked more appealing,as far as cleaning the septic
    tank goes HA-HA-HA.
    I just have to tell you how proud I am of you the kids and of course my daughter,that was some undertaking,I don’t think I know anyone but you who would undertake such a project, I don’t even know if Project is the right word,well you did a great job and the open house was great,again I’am so proud of you just for just for undertaking such a job,I know all the work,time and energy that went into it.
    Speaking of septics maybe you should have mine cleaned for all the years you used it,starting at 6am till finishing time.

    Well Jim I am so happy everything went well and there was such a great turn out on such a miserable day.
    Love ya
    Mother-in-law

    Reply

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