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

BRK #107

"The peak of the week!" as one of my old co-workers (when I had a normie, jobby-job) used to say. And while the entry was a little bumpy, today turned out all right.

For instance, here's a photo of the Gregorian Woodshed. The trees I'd felled yesterday were turned into usable bucked-lengths of wood today. They'll help keep our current SEPPer guest, Julia, toasty warm in the Tipi. Tomorrow I'll go over there and split the larger bits so they're easier to handle and perhaps transport to the Tipi (which is only a short walk away, but still...).



Speaking of which, Julia is pretty great! Here she is, working with Grey and Caleb on the pump house project. At this point she was helping with applying cob to the outer wall of the structure. It's nice to see folks who jump in and aren't afraid to dirty their hands.



Finally: I wanted to say THANK YOU to all the BRK Donors...! Timing was perfect, frankly. Below is a snapshot of my boots, which are... in need of replacement, shall we say. I'll be spending a bit of time away this weekend and I'll be investing in a new pair before I return to Basecamp.!



Also on this weekend's agenda is the purchase of one of those cool snap-together electricity kits that you buy for kids to teach them about electricity - except that in this case, I'll be buying it for myself! I'm tired of not knowing about electrical concepts and safe practices, and my curiosity - as well as the fact we have some electrical projects on the agenda that could greatly benefit this January's Garden Master Course once completed - has persuaded me to finally purchase one of these. I'll share it with everyone else here so we can all increase our knowledge, and have a little fun while we're at it. More about this soon.

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

BRK #108

Tomorrow I head off-site for a while for a couple days strictly in town, and today has concluded on a lot of high notes.

For instance: we started off the day prepping for tree-felling and cob-making. Here, Caleb confers with his supervisor, the kitty in his hoodie. Her name alternates between Fern, Midge, and Munch-Munch. She has a discerning eye for detail, and is very thorough.



Speaking of tree-felling, we took out a pair of massive dead-standing trees for firewood at Base Camp. Caleb, Grey, and I headed up the hill and bucked the logs appropriately. We have a pair of 11-foot sections we plan on taking over to the sawmill next week, and they're both currently sitting on top of rock piles, away from moisture, in preparation for pickup by the tractor. That will be a major operation, but we're in need of finished lumber and are excited with the prospects.



This afternoon, the Pump House project over at the Lab had some major traction. SEPPer Julia came over to help out, and we also consulted with long-timer Jeff regarding the layout and configuration of the pump assembly. All the parts are now in the building built mainly through the hard work of Caleb and Grey (Caleb is the lead on this project), and they have a lot to be proud of.



Finally: my new camera arrived! So I think it's safe to now bid farewell to crappy photos for the duration.



Thanks once again to the BRK donors, who help keep these sorts of purchases within reach of boots like me.

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

BRK #109

Moving House Edition...! Part 3

(also, the first post where I was able to use my new camera)

Back from my stay in-town, and resolved to install my gigantic tent's rain fly before the weather really turns for the worse. Also! There were no instructions included, so I had to figure this out on my own. Fortunately it wasn't rocket surgery, and after my previous tent installation experience I'm confident in saying anyone who has already installed one of these Canvascamp tents would understand putting up the rain fly: either over the tent or on its own. Here's the breakdown.

The rain fly arrived in a drawstring bag, and I had also ordered some spare tent stakes to go along with it. Alongside them in this photo is my trusty rubber mallet, which I had hoped to be the only tool required to make it happen. Little did I know...



First task: find the front of the rain fly, which would overlap the tent entrance. There's a peg that fits through a grommet and this was the only one that didn't have a guy-line attached to it, so it was easy to find. Place this at the front edge of your tent, including fitting the peg through this grommet.



Since the tent was so darn tall, I had to temporarily lower the center pole so I could move the fly over the entire thing. Don't remove the pole completely, as you need to center the rain fly over it so things fit properly.





Make sure the centerpoint overlaps the center pole before moving on. It should look something like this:



Once the rain fly is in place, re-erect the center pole, and then straighten-out all the guy-lines to make sure the rain fly is properly positioned over the tent.



Hammer the stakes into the ground somewhere between 6 to 12 inches further out from the tent stakes. Angle the tent stake points inward, towards the tent, so that the tension pulling the guy-lines also assists in keeping the stakes in the ground. Once in, they should look like this:



As was required during my tent installation, there were some instances when I had to rely on the persuasive power of the jackhammer to create sufficient-depth holes in the rock ledge. Fred was nowhere around to assist this time, however I remembered his tutoring from the last session he and I had, and it proved a simple process.



Finally: once all the guy-lines are hammered into the ground, follow a back-and-forth "star" pattern to adjust the tension of all your guy-lines. This helps keep the rain fly centered properly over the tent. Once you're "playing guitar" on all your guy-lines, you're done!



...And not a moment too soon. Here's the weather forecast for the next ten days.



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

BRK #110

For Halloween, Paul set up a screening of the horror comedy Dark Shadows for us, and it was a trip.

Before that, though, it was a rainy Monday. The light at the end of the tunnel for the Pump House project is coming ever-closer, and about just in time to avoid the worst of the weather. We'll continue working on that throughout this week. Maybe it'll be done Friday...?

This afternoon, we were spending time troubleshooting the new RMH in the Red Cabin, which has proven to be a bit finicky. Most of the issues, we suspect, are related to the mass still being too cool. We'll spend time throughout this week firing it up in an effort to make sure it's absolutely, completely dry. Here's a photo of Grey and SEPPer Julia investigating the RMH:



Meanwhile: Turkeys...!!! They were snooping around the Library and Fisher Price House today. I picked up several photos of them as I was climbing the hill.





And the cats? They didn't do anything, really. I expected Black Spark - the hard-workin' mama of all the kittens - to literally jump at the chance for a more filling meal, but colour me surprised.



They finally ran off up the hill towards the tent pads. They are big... And Caleb has his eye on one of them for a Thanksgiving dinner. We'll see how that turns out.

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

BRK #111

Better photos of the turkey tourists today. It's a benefit of learning more about how to use this camera...







Meanwhile, we had work to do. Here's Caleb and his supervisor, Midge, bucking wood for the heaters.



Here's a snapshot of the starter of one of our fleet rigs, Judy. Imagine me lying on my back under a 1980's six-wheeled truck - a "doolie" - wondering why the hell she wouldn't start. Fred came to the rescue, literally hammering on the side of the starter motor to un-stick a solenoid or something. Judy started up like a charm after that.



Finally: here's a larch, I think. They're some of the only pines whose leaves change colour this time of year, and the hue is lovely.



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