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

BRK #128

"Before" Pictures Edition...!

Monday is here. Spent a lot of time with Daniel looking over projects that need to be built, rebuilt, and renovated. The coming Winter is an excellent time for these kinds of things to happen.

This first photo shows the current state of the Pump House at the Lab. Spoke with Jeff today on behalf of Caleb, who is the project lead for this but was busy at the sawmill with Grey. Had a few questions about the composition of the roof, what it ought to look like, and what we'll make it out of. Right now, pine boughs provide thatching that keeps snow out of the nearly-complete building.



While up at the Lab, Daniel and I swung by Bartell's Bunkhouse. I'm fascinated by this structure and the other half-finished buildings nearby, over at Ant Village. I'd like to see this space completed and "rent-ready," as Paul says. We were tempted to fire up its rocket mass heater (this is the exhaust), but we had other more pressing tasks to address today.



Finally: Daniel and I spent most of our afternoon adding insulation to the Solarium, in an effort to retain more heat in there. Here's a "before" shot of the wall above what was a garage door in this room's past life. We're going to cover it with insulation, then finish it with panels milled at the Lab.



Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

BRK #129

Had my first "admin afternoon" today, after a serious meeting with Paul in the morning, where we discussed... Half-Assed Holidays!

So I did things like look up tutorials for future holiday events and activities... Stuff like this:



...And this:



These led me to creating short write-ups like this:



...And this:



Also took a trip to eBay to pick up items like this:



...And this:



Definitely looking forward to the next several months, where Half-Assed Holidays are cropping up pretty much every week!

Personally speaking, I've not celebrated nearly any holidays for several years now. So coming to Wheaton Labs and engaging in holiday planning is quite a new experience for me. Some of it is actually pretty enjoyable. So we'll see how the rest of the team likes how it all goes down.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

BRK #130

Pre-Holiday Edition...!

First off: thanks to Fred and Daniel for their willingness to learn and play a brand-new game I picked up: Community Garden! It seems like a heavier-weight game than what our crew is used to, but has an adorable gardening theme and interesting mechanics where players end up benefiting from other players' actions. I still hope it hits the table a lot. I think this might be worth a Permies tabletop game review, if such a thing might exist...



Meanwhile, earlier in the day Daniel and I polished-off the insulation and covering in the Solarium. With Grey and Caleb's successes at the Sawmill today, I think we'll be able to finish paneling the Solarium by the Spring. Even better if it's done prior to the Garden Master course in January.



To start off my afternoon, I "stacked functions" with Doug (our blue pickup truck). I refueled Doug, did a recycling run, and then did a diesel run. Here's the bed of the truck just before I headed out for those errands.



Later in the afternoon I caught up with the rest of the team at the Lab. I joined Grey on the task of harvesting more junkpoles for fencing. It was in an area I'm not so familiar with, though still not far from Cooper Cabin. I saw a dead-standing tree with a strange hole carved into it...?



It's a mystery that begs to be solved. Meanwhile, as we were working the clouds parted enough to allow us a chance to enjoy blue skies for a change.



This evening, the Fisher Price House was abuzz with holiday preparedness. I made my first vegan pie crust, and as the Magic 8-Ball would indicate: "Outlook is good."



Adding Fred's vegan pecan pie filling and decorations all but guarantees tomorrow's delectable vegan dessert!



Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

Stephen B. Thomas wrote:

Later in the afternoon I caught up with the rest of the team at the Lab. I joined Grey on the task of harvesting more junkpoles for fencing. It was in an area I'm not so familiar with, though still not far from Cooper Cabin. I saw a dead-standing tree with a strange hole carved into it...?



It's a mystery that begs to be solved.
D

Pileated woodpeckers make square holes in trees, but this is probably too big to be that.

BRK #131

Thanksgiving 2022 Edition...!

[Paul, if you need the hi-res versions of these photos, just let me know.]

So much food. I can't remember the last time I filled myself quite like this. Excellent vegan dishes courtesy of the whole team, though mostly Fred and Samantha. Many, many thanks.

Here's the turkey for the occasion:



Caleb prepares polydough frybreads. These were like extra-large hush puppies. There was some whole wheat flour in this batch, so the end result was chewy, firm, and had a nice flavour of its own. His apple pie was an admirable deep-dish, as well. Had to sacrifice my vegan cred to eat a crust with dairy butter in it, but it was totally worth it.



A nice spread of side dishes for us vegan folks.



Everyone tucks in. Clockwise, from lower-left: Jeff, Caleb, Julia, Fred (the only one who noticed), Daniel, Grey, Paul, and Cedar. Not pictured: Samantha.



Plate number 1, below:



Plate number 2 was mostly frybreads and some stuffing with mushroom gravy. That was a mistake... A tasty, tasty mistake. The pies still had some time to bake, so we played a six-player session of Castle Panic, a kind of tower-defense board game. "Bring on the Giant Boulders!!!" We survived the ordeal, and decided to celebrate by eating several different types of pie.

Here, Fred's pecan pie is tested for its structural integrity. This was another delectable pie dish.



More pies:



Last picture of pies, I promise (also includes Cedar's Caramel Tarts, lower left):



Meanwhile... Wood Box Day is tomorrow and I hope to have plenty of pictures of our finished products then.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!