Fences have forever intrigued me, whether poetically (“Good fences make good neighbours“) or artistically as beautiful rustic or architectural images. Symbolically fences have lately acquired a distinct and often distasteful political tone connected with border walls to keep immigrants and refugees out of the United States of America. The construction of that wall has similarly garnered further toxic political attention following presidential aspirant Trump’s promise to have it built then paid for by Mexico (both of which intentions have evaporated and never been fulfilled).
Trump Immigrant Family History
The historic venture of wattle and daub is perhaps more immediately understood as lath and plaster.
Wattle is essentially a material for making fences, walls, etc., consisting of rods or stakes interlaced with twigs or branches. Wattle is made by weaving flexible branches around upright stakes to form a woven lattice. The wattle may be made into an individual panel, commonly called a hurdle, or it may be formed into a continuous fence.
Wattles also form the basic structure for wattle and daub wall construction, where wattling is daubed with a plaster-like substance to make a weather-resistant wall. Evidence of wattle construction was found at Woodcutts Settlement from the British Iron Age. Vitruvius wrote about wattles in his book “De architectura” but the technique goes back to Neolithic period.
The construction of wattles starts with the uprights, whether they are set into a frame or placed into the ground. Starting at the bottom wIth flexible willow shoots, called
“Withy”. Lath and plaster is a building process used to finish mainly interior dividing walls and ceilings. It consists of narrow strips of wood which are nailed horizontally across the
wall studs or ceiling “Joists” and then coated in plaster. The technique derives from an earlier, more primitive process called wattle and daub. Lath and plaster largely fell out of favour in the U.K. after the introduction of plasterboard in the 1930s. In Canada and the
United States, wood lath and plaster remained in use until the process was replaced by transitional methods followed by drywall (the North American term for plasterboard) in the mid-twentieth century.
Late this afternoon upon returning home from my routine automobile outing (which, at the risk of entire monotony, I must interject was utterly gratifying) I could not resist dropping into Equator Coffee for a shot of espresso. When I ordered a triple espresso at the cash the barista overheard and suggested a quadruple for the same price. I instantly understood the suggestion because the double espresso has become a stock order. Once seated I was joined by Renato. He and fell into an animated conversation during which, among other curiosities, we exchanged historic pictures of our mothers. His mother was an extremely attractive woman who was considered as lovely as Sophia Loren. We also touched upon the dramatic weather in Florida; the manner of cooking fishcakes; the allure of pétoncles (scallop); the esoteric matter of insurance and re-insurance; and a number of complicated medical anomalies which I immediately abandoned as beyond my comprehension; and, naturally, one’s health and the weather.