Kyle's Permie Bootcamp (BRK)

BRK Post 73

Getting really close now... I made... I guess the best way to describe them are covers with felt gaskets? They slide onto the gear shaft before the handles and sit tight to the door with a felt pad in between.

I also pinned the the front handle, I made the pin large and easy to pull out.

Final testing is showing the springs are under sized to overcome the friction and handle weight to close latch on their own. I put them into a higher tension position while at rest but this may lead to faster wear on the natural fibers in the wood. It would be best to make a stronger full length spring. Maybe later. There may be some candidates growing around here I could dry and use later. Saskatoon or maple come to mind.

Cindy Haskin wrote:I used to have an orange striped male who regularly pitched himself onto my shoulders and would stay there as I pulled weeds or planted seedlings. He would also come to walk me home from a friend's house around the corner. He was a rescue from the dumpster area at a local carwash. I named him Rusty. That was probably almost 30 years ago. Gosh how time has flown!

Makes me think about all the unique personalities of all the pets I've known. They all had an endearing quality, but are so different.

BRK Post 74

I ran out of door work today, but not in a good way. I stuffed insulation in the gap between the rough opening and the door jamb frame. But I don't have trim boards to put over top.

I put a bit of insulation in the latch access too, it won't do a lot but it is better than nothing.

I started to put on the felt as a weather seal but I ran out.

So I've to order more felt and make some trim on the table saw tomorrow.

Since I ran out of work I could do I helped Josiah prep the facade and the mill ends for it. Had to peel the bark off the mill ends and grind down some log ends that were too sharp on the roof.

Then had pancakes for dinner. No pictures of those, we ate them too quickly. Come join the bootcamp if you want any next time.

BRK Post 75

Spent my morning tending to the garden, mostly cutting grass and mulching around some perennials. Not much else to report there.

Everything is still wet from the rain with more rain coming tomorrow.

Up at the greenhouse I made some trim out of 2x6s and trimmed both sides of the door. The inside, hinge post needed a lot of flattening and chiseling to get the trim to lay flat. Another reason to use squared off posts for the doorway in future builds.

We had some help from some cobbing enthusiasts today, they did a great job sealing up gaps and finishing the walls.

The doorway is basically done. I'll have to wait for the felt to arrive but everything is in good shape. I'm going to assemble everything tomorrow and test for friction points, see if there is anything I can smooth out.

After work was done Josiah took me on a mushroom hunt. We were hoping to find some morels but all we saw was an unknown orange/red gilled mushroom. I did find some elderberry shrubs and raspberries. I found the creek we were following to be very relaxing.

We'll check again after the rains for more mushrooms coming up. Mycology and mushroom foraging is one of the skills I'd like to develop here.

BRK Post 76

More greenhouse work today.

The greenhouse door is as close to finished as I can make it for now. So I laid in the insulation and got some paneling put up instead. I had enough boards to do the front wall and a bit on one side wall before running out of material. Matt made a run out to the lumber yard to pick up seven more boards while I got a bit of prep done on the facade. Just cleaning off sawdust and stapling down plastic.

Now all of the walls have been closed up with cob or filled with insulation and the door is on, it's looking like a solid structure. Just close the door and you are inside. Except for the missing glass of course.

In myco-news, I spotted a bunch of fried chicken mushrooms, some were large enough to pick others can grow a bit before picking. They were delicious last time, now there are enough for a decent meal.

I went on a short walk through the lab woods looking for anything else popping up. I found a weird green flat fungus. I'd like to ID it just to know what it is.

Hoping for more mushrooms as spring continues.