Half Assed Holidays for winter 2023-2024 at wheaton labs

What are you doing this holiday season?

Consider renting a cabin or allerton abbey at wheaton labs for your holiday vacation!


Come warm yourself with a rocket mass heater.



Bask in the abundance of life.






You can get a good dose of peace and quiet.





fresh air and sunshine.  








exercise and healthy food









When I was growing up, we went over the river and through the woods to my grandmother's house every holiday.  

We indulged in the finest foods and drank in the happiness of being together.

Spending holidays at Wheaton labs gives me that same feeling of family.    

Sitting around the table and everyone has contributed to the grandness of the day.

 It is really the sweetest thing.





Here's the calendar for this year.  If you want a cozy place to overwinter, it's a perfect time to ease into the bootcamp.

Half assed holiday schedule for the 2023-2024 winter season:


wed nov 1 - indoor gardening day




wed nov 8 - apple seed day




wed nov 15 - bun warmer day




thurs nov 23 - Thanksgiving Day


fri nov 24 - wood box day (half day)

- try to replace plastic bins with wooden crates and boxes
- maybe try to make a box that will almost hold water
- maybe even try to make some dovetail joints
- some boxes will be quick and some will be very nice
- unlike wooden spoon day - wood boxes will remain with the bootcamp

wed nov 29 - day of light - a half day of improving the lighting in and around our nest

- add mirrors
    o on walls
    o in window wells
    o lots of creativity
- add lights that are more efficient by lighting people more than the room
- add solar night lights outside - find artistic themes
- different sorts of prisms in the windows
- add indoor night lights
- make full room lights that can be turned on at the source that add HUGE light to the room
- light experiments
- possible candle lit dinner
- an evening campfire (bun warmer or pavilion)
- maple foods
    o maple meringue cookies
    o maple rolls
    o maple cookies
    o spaghetti with each person adding about a tablespoon of maple syrup (tip of the hat to Elf)
    o horchata sweetened with maple syrup
    o fresh bread served with whipped maple butter
- hot spiced cider



tues dec 5 - chair repair day



fri dec 8 - wooden spoon day - half day

- we all carve wood kitchen utensils
- maybe one cutting board
- make lots of soup that people eat with wooden spoons!
      o make bread bowls for soup
- ice cream to test the strength of wooden spoons

mon dec 11 --  christmas decorating day - a half day of

- setting up a tree and all the decorating
- popcorn
       o +maple syrup to make popcorn balls
- make a wreath
- convert a cubbie into a "nativity" featuring wheaton labs stuff
- christmas movie

thur dec 14  - christmas stocking day - a half day of

- making christmas stockings (for current and future boots)
- baking
- further cool decorations
- christmas movie

wed dec 20  - christmas baking day - a half day of baking

- and a christmas movie

sun dec 24  - christmas eve - half day of (i need ideas)

- I will go into missoula and get chinese take out for everybody
- egg nog
- fudge
- confections
- add an ornament to the tree
       o must be something that can be used for many years
       o says your name plus "christmas 2022"

mon dec 25 - christmass day - fancy foodening

thurs dec 28  - day of fire - a half day of improving fire stuff

- build indoor and outdoor firewood racks
- do all rocket spots have
       o a kindling cracker
       o a poker
       o an ash bucket
       o ample fire starting paper and a propane torch
       o a nearby fire extinguisher
       o good firebricks for the wood feed
- find quick and easy ways to upgrade rocket mass heaters
- make improvements to the bun warmer space
- evening with the bun warmer
      o plus a tiny camp fire in the middle (with our little camp fire contraption)
      o smores
      o hot dogs
      o hot drinks (tea, spiced cider, etc.)

mon jan 1   Putting Away Christmas + Movies Day

- black eyed peas, greens and corn bread
- spaghetti

hot springs day - mixed in somewhere.  Surprise half day




thurs jan 4 - proenneke day  (half day)

 - small roundwood projects all with hand tools
       o coat hooks (cut forked branch style)
       o coat hooks (dry pegs in green half-round of wood)
       o a kitchen chair (probably pretty big and blocky)
       o repair projects
       o sawbuck




wed jan 10  - national houseplants day (half day)

- overhaul all of the houseplants
- modify stuff to be houseplant pots
- coleus seeds
- plant edible stuff, maybe herbs
- add plant shelves and grow lights
- experiment with self watering stuff

fri jan 12 - gadget mending day  (half day)



tues jan 16 - quilt day
- collectively make one quilt for one thing
    o maybe a window quilt
    o maybe a curtain for something
    o maybe a bed quilt
- each person has their own square or two to be added to the quilt
- they can add messages with laundry markers
- each boot can add their name
- somewhere it says "bootcamp 2022"
- ravioli served so it looks like a quilt

fri jan 19   -sauna day. (half day)





tues jan 23   - fermentation day (half day)

- water keifer
- kim chi
- miso
- kraut
- sourdough
- keifer



fri jan 26 -  pina colada day (half day)

- blended drinks (with umbrellas), pizza and the house is 80 degrees
     o beach music
     o drink from pineapple cups
- improve the dock
     o add tropical somethings
- improve the library
- movie featuring pina coladas or beaches
     o shrek (plays the pina colada song)
     o pirates of the caribbean
     o lilo and stitch
     o fantasy island
     o swiss family robinson
     o guardians of the galaxy

mon jan 29 - fri feb 2 - garden master course

-Helen Atthowe will be here and the world will be bright and beautiful

tues feb 6 - cat house day

 - build a cat house
 - eat lasagna
 - maybe a movie featuring a cat


fri feb 9 art day

- signs and labels
- maybe tiny rock jacks to hold up outdoor signs
- food that would be served at an art gallery
          o foods impaled with toothpicks
          o foods served on a cracker
          o grapes


tues feb 13 - fukuoka day

- make seed balls
- upgrade the free shelf stuff
- sushi



fri feb 16 - pulley day

 - projects with pulleys
    o laundry racks
    o window quilts
    o food drying racks next to the ceiling that can be lowered
    o pulley-based ceiling storage
    o more things like Bob.
    o maybe some experiments with manual log skidding winches
    o maybe some gravity lights in the pantry

wed feb 21 - roundwood furniture day

 - making furniture out of roundwood, like the picnic table and the couch balcony.
    o chairs
    o stools
    o tables



wed feb 28 - repair cafe day

   

wed mar 6 - gate day

 - projects with gates
    o maintain existing gates
    o build new gates
    o make garden gates animal tight for spring
    o update allerton abbey gate to be more beautiful
   

wed mar 13 - garden twig day

 - making useful art out of twigs, like a cucumber, pea vine and clematis frame.
    o tomato cages
    o trellis
   


wed mar 20 - dog day

 - we work on making something for dogs at the dog star
     wofati dog house
   


If you want to dive in deeper consider joining the Wheaton Labs bootcamp for hands on Half Assed Holiday experience! : https://permies.com/link/hahbootcamp