!! In the quiet hours of the bootcamp grind, I found myself: Esteban's Bootcamp Experience

B.E.L Post # 24

After the morning meeting, Zach and I headed out to get the shop and classroom warmed up with the fires. Once things were nice and toasty, we made our way to the Abbey to feed the cats and walk the fence perimeter—everything looked good out there.

Back at basecamp, we got to work splitting more logs for firewood and managed to stack the majority of it over at my living quarters. After that, we teamed up with Stephen to take down a big tree, got it logged up, and hauled the sections back near the shop.

We wrapped up the day with some well-earned Taco Tuesday time—perfect ending after a solid day’s work! 🌮🔥🌲

B.E.L. Post # 25

After this morning’s meeting, Stephen and I got the rocket mass heater going at the Loveshack to warm things up in preparation for the new guy arriving this Friday. Once things were heating nicely, Stephen, Zach, Chapito, and I headed over to the Abbey to do our usual fence perimeter check, feed the cats, and put in a bit more work at the sawmill site.

After wrapping up there, we made our way back to basecamp where we continued with some solar light installations, prepped the area for a new shed, and finished the day off with some mint processing.

A productive day all around — good teamwork, good progress, and the Loveshack is just about ready for the newcomer! 🌿🔥

B.E.L. Post # 26

After the morning meeting, little Chapito and I headed over to the Love Shack to fire up the rocket mass heater and get things warmed up for the day.

Once that was going, we met up with Stephen and Zach at the shop and made our way to the Abbey for the usual cat-feeding and a full fence perimeter check. Everything looked good out there.

Back at Basecamp, we got to work cutting a couple more trees to use as material for the lean-to shed. Before we could start building, we split the 8-foot sections in half, loaded them up, and headed up the property. We spent the next stretch putting the lean-to together—solid progress and it’s coming along nicely.

Wrapped up the day with some cleanup work, wiping down and vacuuming a couple of the vehicles before calling it good.

Another full day, but a good one.

B.E.L. Post # 27

Started the morning off at the Love Shack getting the rocket mass heater fired up so it’s warm and ready for the new boot arriving. After that, Zach and I headed over to the Abbey to feed the cats and do a full perimeter check.

Once that was wrapped up, we made our way back to Basecamp. Spent a bit of time readjusting the angles on the solar lights to catch better sun, and then put in some work refortifying the garden junk-pole fencing.

Finished out the day working on getting snow tires mounted onto the last work vehicle—winter prep season is officially here.

B.E.L. Post # 28

Started the morning by showing the new boot how to properly and safely operate the chainsaw. We spent a bit of time cutting up a stack of logs, getting some good practice in and making a nice dent in the pile.

Afterwards, we headed over to the Abbey for the usual fence perimeter check. While we were there, we cut and dropped the remaining corn stalks. Once that was wrapped up, we made our way back to base camp and took down another section of corn stalks there too.

Closed out the day by detailing the interior of one of the work vehicles—slow, steady cleanup, but it’s looking a whole lot better now.