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

I seriously recommend tying the cross poles to the uprights with wire.  screws are brittle and snap at the threads when flexed between round wood.

BEL #712

A Monday, and a new beginning to the week and the month. Welcome to Shane, the latest Boot.



Shane hails from Texas, and brings his cat Buddy with him. They're staying in the Love Shack. The man's hard of hearing, and I intend to learn some ASL during his time here. It'll only make things better on-task.

With Shane's help, my temporary fix for the junk pole fence from last week is now much more permanent. We added two additional horizontal supports (including a total replacement of the lowest of the three), and then wove the junk pole "pickets" between them.



Also, I wanted to give a shout-out to Ringer Jennifer B from this past Autumn. She and Boot Ben's installation of a temperature-controlled light in the Lab's Pump House worked like a charm today. I was showing Shane around the grounds, and I think just as I opened the Pump House lid, the light switched on.

For some reason, this photo makes me think of a dungeon. But it's only like 7 feet deep in there. That kooky camera angle must have something to do with it.



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

Stephen B. Thomas wrote:Also, I wanted to give a shout-out to Ringer Jennifer B from this past Autumn. She and Boot Ben's installation of a temperature-controlled light in the Lab's Pump House worked like a charm today. I was showing Shane around the grounds, and I think just as I opened the Pump House lid, the light switched on.

For some reason, this photo makes me think of a dungeon. But it's only like 7 feet deep in there. That kooky camera angle must have something to do with it.



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

It was fun spending time with Bennifer and they did seem to get things done.  It's good to see solder joints are holding up so far...apparently I did something right...I wonder how that would have gone if we'd shut down like you told us to Friday afternoon

ASL would be a good skill to pick up.  I used to work with a couple folks who know it and managed to pick up a bit, but not nearly enough to be conversant.  Good luck with it...another skill to add to your repertoire.

BEL #713

Happy Taco Tuesday to you...!

This afternoon, Shane and I visited Fred on his plot to assist with the construction of his current building project: a storage shed. There he is now.



He's attaching a roof at the moment, and we Boots aided him in adding end supports to secure his roof rafters. He has an interesting combination of roundwood and dimensional lumber in the building of the roof.



Here we are, all three of us on ladders, marking the supports with a chalk line. The roof spans an excess of 19 feet and Fred was grateful for our help today.



Finally: here's a picture of today's...optical illusion, perhaps? I'll wait for it. Hint: it's one of a Carpenter's Classic Blunders.



We're back to Fred's plot tomorrow afternoon in an effort to help him finish this roof by the end of the day Thursday.

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

Hans Quistorff wrote:I seriously recommend tying the cross poles to the uprights with wire.  screws are brittle and snap at the threads when flexed between round wood.

Thanks for the suggestions, Hans! We ended up using nails to secure things: the two horizontal poles to one another, and then both of those to several of the vertical "pickets."

Shane's a big fan of bushcraft, and he's mentioned the subject a number of times. We've successfully grown a nice patch of stinging nettle, and may end up making cordage out of that when the time comes. It's likely Shane will be heading that project, should it come to pass. I think natural cordage would be a good fit for the prototype/temporary design I cobbled together last week, which uses two horizontal supports coupled with a pair of "leaning walls" of junk poles. I may end up using that kind of design in the future at the acre I'm stewarding.