!!!! SEPP to Boot: Stephen's Experience (BEL)

Yeah, and ya don't stop, 'cause it's...
BRK #187

Game Cam Friday today. I led Moto Jeff through the paces of how to check all our trail cameras, replace the batteries and memory cards, and then review the record. Apart from a few sightings of mild-mannered deer, there's a more dramatic photo of an itinerant moose on the loose up there at the Lab, should you be curious.

Here's the back-side of a trail camera, for when Moto Jeff and I were switching-out its components.



Back at Basecamp... Well, you give a task to Grey and Caleb, and they put their heads together for some serious architectural scribblings. Here they are discussing and drafting the plans for a new Cat House for our upcoming Cat House Day in February.



Finally: in likely the clumsiest photograph I've ever posted: Moto Jeff and I worked to add more paper to the ceiling insulation in the Library. The more still air there is in the walls, the longer the inside stays warm when it's cold outside.



We'll need all the warmth we can muster for the next few days, where predictions are calling for lows in the teens-below-zero F. Time to bundle up...

That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and make the most of your weekend...!

BRK #188

What a snowy Saturday...! At least 3.5 inches accumulated, a steady breeze, and now the temperature has been dropping into the low teens F. We're expecting temperatures to reach below zero F tomorrow morning, and even colder Monday morning. We've battened-down the hatches and implemented the below-zero protocol, and we'll see how it goes...!

Today, SEPPer Austin held his online fermentation workshop. This was a lot of fun to attend! I assisted in the morning with a little bit of last-minute prep, and once it was done I packed-up a bit more sauerkraut that had been made.

But first: hahahah! Guess who neglected to bring the tractor down from the Lab so we could plow-out Basecamp today? I'll give you three guesses.



Here are a couple shots of SEPPer Austin, before and during his workshop, down in the Classroom at Basecamp.





He made more escabeche, demo'd his hot sauce, and then made more sauerkraut with his online participants - plus us, who were also in the classroom. Grey and Moto Jeff joined me in the Classroom to be SEPPer Austin's on-site audience and participants. The best part of being on-site was that we were able to sample some of the escabeche, hot sauce, and sauerkraut as part of the class...!



That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

Stephen B. Thomas wrote:BRK #185

Happy Pina Colada Day to you...!

I'll save the "in-progress" photo of the Solarium bunks for tomorrow, as I think it will be finished then and there are already plenty of photographs to post for today's Half-Assed Holiday celebrations.

One of the main things for Pina Colada Day would be to improve something in the Library and/or the Dock (the long work-table/desk in the Library), and Moto Jeff and Caleb were in charge of that. Grey and I, on the other hand, were in charge of the food and libations for the occasion. So I snagged a bunch of photos of our pizza-making and drink-making efforts. Here we go.

Bringing up the temperature of the house to at least 80F is a primary objective for the day, and we can check-off that one. Sure, we could have been a bit more diligent with this objective, but I felt pizza and Pina Coladas were a higher priority. We eventually nailed all three of those, at least.



We also wanted to make a bunch of pizzas. Grey started off our sourdough crusts (thanks, SEPPer Austin!), and then I finished them off. It's been a minute since I made a pizza, and I'd never used the house oven for any baking, so it was a personal adventure and definitely a learning experience. Things turned out all right, I'd say.











It may not have been the most-flawless of Half-Assed Holidays so far this year, but the rum in the Pina Coladas seemed to have smoothed-out the rough edges for almost everyone.
(as an aside: if anyone knows of a decent vegan pizza-cheese recipe, please share it... All the store-bought varieties are sorely lacking, in my opinion...)



We wrapped the evening with a screening of the Disney version of Swiss Family Robinson, made in 1960. Apart from wanting the tiger to really really eat someone, it delivered what it promised, and for a film as old and potentially-hokey as that one, it still holds up as far as family shows are concerned.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

This all looks great, Stephen. Thanks for sharing!

BRK #189

After yesterday evening's adventures of driving around on black ice, I opted for a quieter, slower day at Basecamp today. I woke up to temperatures reaching down to -12F. The temperature eventually rose as high as 16F before the sun went down.



I must not have been feeling my best today, as I ended up taking a nap! (Well, maybe the two hours of splitting wood this morning may have also had something to do with that...) I curled up with a book that was recommended by other Permies folks in a different discussion thread, and it's been an eye-opening read, so far. The dominant section of the book details the patterns for various "hobo quilt squares," which resemble the signs used by the folks who rode the rails before they were, in the words of Utah Phillips: "...given away far too cheaply." While I don't like sewing machines too much, I enjoy hand-sewing much more. So finishing off squares like these will be nice projects every once in a while.



Finally: I also learned the answer to the question, "What do you do with over-ripe sourdough starter?" The answer is, of course, "Make crackers!"

SEPPer Austin coached me through the process of making these today and while I think I over-baked them, they still had a fantastic flavour profile, reminding me of exotically-spiced Cheez-Its. I used black pepper, fennel seed, and powdered black garlic. Really nice!



(includes a bonus shot of Caleb practicing guitar in the background)

That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

BRK #190

Monday is here, and with it the start of a new Boots Work Week.

Frigid temperatures greeted us this morning, but that couldn't stop me from taking a moment to bask in this view of the mountains, literally just outside the front door of the Fisher Price House.





Went up to the Lab in the afternoon to do some prep and plowing of the roads so the less-stout vehicles could make it around and take care of business. The moon is rising in the afternoons these days, and I noticed it over the trees.



Piloting the tractor, the solitude of the Lab, the brisk cold, a slight breeze, animal trails dotting the landscape... All these things cooperated to put me in an excellent mood.



Then, just like that, I turn a corner and one of the front tires of the tractor hops off its bead:



So off to the repair shop we go, first thing in the morning.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!