Jen’s Boot Camp and Allerton Abbey Experience

Thank you, Robin! It has been really satisfying work.

I woke up at 6:30 this morning and started up the tracking thermometers to begin the thermal inertia test. The four thermometers are placed: outdoors away from the Abbey, on the outside of the front exterior wall, on the inside of the same wall, and on one of the mass walls in the bedroom far from the stove.

After that, I built a fire in the stove to make my morning tea. Allerton Abbey was 61.6 degrees Fahrenheit in my bedroom, so it wasn’t too bad getting out of bed. When I checked the outdoor temperature a few minutes after waking up, it was below freezing (30.4). Inside the Abbey, it was even warmer in the front room than in my bedroom (64.1), so I got dressed and sat on the sofa there to enjoy my tea and write up this journal before heading to basecamp at 7:30 to join everyone for boot camp.

(ATI Day 1)
(Picture thread day 39)

Yesterday evening I returned to the Abbey a little before 8:00 after a day of bootcamp, did some chores, and made a quick soup for dinner. Furniture was being moved in and out of the Abbey during the day, letting cold air in, and no one had been inside cooking or hanging out while I was gone, but the temperature inside was still in the 60s when I returned. I ate my supper and went to bed a little after 9:00.

This morning when I woke up at 6:15, it was just below 60 in my bedroom, and just above 60 in the front room, while it was 26.7 degrees outside. I lit a fire for my morning tea, made a PB&J, got ready for the day, and headed out for bootcamp at 7:30 after finishing my breakfast.

(ATI Day 2)

Yesterday morning, we worked at the Abbey for a little while before lunch unloading a trailer load of junkpoles for the Abbey fence. Dave and I were chilly, so we put the kettle on while we worked and had a cup of tea afterward to warm up on the way to load more junkpoles.

I came back to the Abbey a little before 8:00 yesterday evening and lit the fire to make supper. When I was getting ready for bed, the indoor temperatures were hovering around the low 60s, and it was just over 40 degrees outside.

This morning I slept in till 7:00 before getting up and making my breakfast. It was 60 degrees inside when I woke up, and in the mid-30s outside. Then I got ready and met Fred and the other boots to begin work.

(ATI Day 3)

Last night, I was enjoying hanging out with everyone at basecamp, so ate dinner there and didn’t come back to the Abbey till late or have a fire to cook on. This morning, I slept in until almost eight (Saturday!) and then did chores and caught up on personal projects for a while before starting the fire for tea and breakfast at 9:00, before heading to basecamp around noon to catch up on laundry.

I have finished oiling the floor of the lower cell now, including the the edges, so all the work on the floors is finished until spring. On Monday, we’ll be moving some furniture from the front room down to the lower cell. The Abbey is starting to look decently homey, and I am really enjoying being here.

(ATI Day 4)