Wow! Where has the time gone?

Hey guys,

Well, we're in the middle of October and this is the first post of 2016.

I'm sorry for the lack of updates, to include last year when we stopped blogging prior to Halloween and didn't even post a walk through video (which we never filmed).

It's not that we are getting tired of Halloween.  Well, we're tired, but not for anything Halloween.  Lynn and I are just incredibly busy and Halloween this year is really feeling the affects of that.

Still, it's not like we're gonna pass on Halloween this year.  It is still happening, but not to the extent of previous years.

So, what do I mean by that?  Basically, we're not going to add anything new to the Hollow this year.  We've been doing Hollinger Hollow since 2002 and blogging about it since 2010, every year getting bigger than the last.  Now, with time not on our side, Lynn and I looked around and saw a lot of aging props.

That's when we decided to work on fixing our current props in place of creating anything new.

That said, it's not like things aren't changing.  Concerning our toughest decision, we decided to retire the bridge from the Hollow this year.  It's in really bad shape and restoring it just isn't an option.  We need a new one and simply don't have the time to build it.  So, we need to put fencing where the bridge used to be.

And that means...

42, 40" and 36, 36" 1/2" PVC pipes plus 12 1x2" furring strips equals...

... 6 new fences!

It will take 6 new "iron" fences to replace the bridge.  As you can see, we've built them.  Now we just need to paint them.

We also have extra furring strips to replace some of the rails on the old fences that have really been abused over the years.  Although the PVC can be re-purposed, the wood will need to be replaced and painted.

We are also sanding down the columns and re-finishing them.

After sanding down the flaking paint.

Left column, newly painted.  Right column, about to be re-finished

The great thing about sanding these down and re-finishing them is that they will, for the first time in Hollow history, be painted to look the same. You see, these columns were built over 3 different Halloweens and therefore their color never really quite matched.

We also plan to repair and bring back the Ground Breaker prop.  We've had him for a couple of years but on the first year he broke and we never got him working in time to put him out last year.  So, in a weird way, putting him out this year is kind of like adding a new prop.

That's where we are at the moment.  I'll be honest, I don't know how many posts this year will have.  I will do my best to have a couple more this year as well as a walk through video so please be patient with us this year and we will hopefully make up for this next year.

Talk to you later!